Operator watch area in a process control plant

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for presenting a watch area display view in a process plant are provided. Indications of process control display elements may be presented via a user interface of a computing device executing an operator application in an operating environment of a process plant. The process control display elements may be displayed in a first display region in a display view, with each of the process control display elements corresponding to process parameters. Simultaneously with the first display region, a second display region (not occluding any process control display elements) may be presented in the display view. An indication that a user has selected one of the process control display elements in the first display region for display in the second display region may be received. The one or more process parameters corresponding to the selected process control display element may be displayed in the second display region.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and the benefit of the filing dateof U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/566,679, filed on Oct. 2,2017, entitled “Systems And Methods For Graphical Display Configurationand Usage in Process Control Plants,” the entire disclosure of which ishereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to process control systems, and, moreparticularly, to systems and methods for configuring graphics utilizedby operators to view and respond to real-time conditions within andoperations of an on-line, industrial process plant.

BACKGROUND

Distributed process control systems are used in chemical,pharmaceutical, petroleum, oil and gas, metals and mining, pulp andpaper, or other types of industrial process plants to control one ormore industrial processes to thereby generate or produce one or morephysical products from raw materials and/or other types of sourcematerials. As such, distributed process control systems typicallyinclude one or more process controllers and input/output (I/O) devicescommunicatively coupled to at least one host or operator interfacedevice and to one or more field devices via analog, digital or combinedanalog/digital buses, or via a wireless communication link or network.The field devices, which may be, for example, valves, valve positioners,switches, and transmitters (e.g., temperature, pressure, level and flowrate sensors), are located within the process environment and generallyperform physical or process control functions, such as opening orclosing valves, or measuring process parameters to control one or moreindustrial processes executing within the process plant or system. Smartfield devices, such as field devices conforming to the well-knownFieldbus protocol may also perform control calculations, alarmingfunctions, and other control functions commonly implemented within acontroller. The process controllers, which are also typically locatedwithin the plant environment, receive signals indicative of processmeasurements made by sensors or field devices and/or other informationpertaining to the field devices and execute a controller applicationthat runs, for example, different control modules that make processcontrol decisions, generate control signals based on the receivedinformation, and coordinate with the control modules or blocks beingperformed in the field devices, such as HART®, Wireless HART®, andFOUNDATION® Fieldbus field devices. The control modules in thecontroller send the control signals over the communication lines orlinks to the field devices to thereby control the operation of at leasta portion of the process plant or system.

Information from the field devices and the controller is usually madeavailable over a data highway to one or more other hardware devices,such as operator interfaces, personal computers, or computing devices,data historians, report generators, centralized databases, or othercentralized administrative computing devices that are typically, but notalways, placed in control rooms or other locations away from the harsherplant environment. Each of these hardware devices typically, though notalways, is centralized across the process plant or across a portion ofthe process plant. These hardware devices run applications that may, forexample, enable an operator to view current statuses and operations ofprocesses that are running within the plant, perform functions withrespect to controlling a process and/or operating the process plant,such as changing settings of the process control routine, modifying theoperation of the control modules within the controllers or the fielddevices, viewing alarms generated by field devices and controllers,simulating the operation of the process for the purpose of trainingpersonnel or testing the process control software, keeping and updatinga configuration database, etc. The data highway utilized by the hardwaredevices, controllers, and field devices may include a wiredcommunication path, a wireless communication path, or a combination ofwired and wireless communication paths.

As an example, the DeltaV™ control system, sold by Emerson, includesmultiple applications stored within and executed by different userinterface devices located at diverse places within a process plant, andin some instances, remotely from the process plant. Each of theseapplications provides a user interface (UI) to allow a user (e.g., aconfiguration engineer, an operator, a maintenance technician, etc.) toview and/or modify aspects of the process plant operation andconfiguration. Throughout this specification, the phrase “userinterface” or “UI” is used to refer to an application or screen thatallows a user to view or modify the configuration, operation, or statusof the process plant. Similarly, the phrase “user interface device” or“UI device” is used herein to refer to a device on which a userinterface is operating, whether that device is stationary (e.g., aworkstation, wall-mounted display, process control device display, etc.)or mobile (e.g., a laptop computer, tablet computer, smartphone, etc.).

A configuration application, which resides in one or more userworkstations or computing devices included in a configurationenvironment of a process plant, enables configuration engineers and/orother types of users to create or change process control modules anddownload these process control modules via a data highway to dedicateddistributed controllers that operate in an operating environment of theprocess plant (which is also referred to interchangeably herein as an“operations environment” of the process plant) to control one or moreprocesses during runtime or real-time operations. Typically, thesecontrol modules are made up of communicatively interconnected functionblocks, which perform functions within the control scheme based oninputs thereto and which provide outputs to other function blocks withinthe control scheme. Each dedicated controller and, in some cases, one ormore field devices, stores and executes a respective controllerapplication that runs the control modules assigned and downloadedthereto to implement actual process control functionality.

The configuration application also allows configuration engineers and/orother users to create or change operator Human-Machine Interfaces (HMIs)or display views that are used by an operator viewing application todisplay data (e.g., as the data is generated in real-time during runtimeoperations of the process plant) to an operator and to enable theoperator to change various settings, such as set points, within theprocess control routines during runtime operations. The operator viewingapplications that provide the operator HMIs or display views areexecuted on one or more user interface devices (e.g., operatorworkstations, operator tablets, operator mobile devices, etc.) includedin the operations environment of the process plant (or on one or moreremote computing devices in communicative connection with the operatorworkstations and the data highway). The operator HMIs or display viewsreceive data from the controller applications via the data highway anddisplay this data to operators or other users using the UIs at the userinterface devices. Similarly, the operator HMIs or display views mayalso receive data (e.g., real time data) from other control componentsor elements included in the operating environment of the process plantother than control modules, such as controllers, process controllers,field devices, I/O cards or devices, other types of hardware devices,units, areas, and the like. A data historian application is typicallystored in and executed by a data historian device that collects andstores some or all of the data provided across the data highway while aconfiguration database application may run in a still further computerattached to the data highway to store the current process controlroutine configuration, the current operator display configuration, anddata associated therewith. Alternatively, the configuration database maybe located in the same workstation as the configuration application.

As noted above, the operator viewing applications typically execute inone or more of the operator user interface devices and provide operatorHMIs or display views to the operator or maintenance persons regardingthe operating state of the control system, control components, and/ordevices within the plant, e.g., while the plant is operating inreal-time or runtime to control one or more industrial processes.Generally speaking, operator HMIs or display views are used by operatorsin day-to-day operations (which may, for example, be 24/7 operations) ofthe process running in the process plant to view and respond toreal-time conditions within the process and/or the process plant. Atleast some of these operator HMIs or display views may take the form of,for example, alarming displays that receive alarms generated bycontrollers or devices within the process plant, control displaysindicating the operating state of the controllers and other deviceswithin the process plant, maintenance displays indicating the operatingstate of the devices within the process plant, etc. Display viewstypically execute in the runtime or real-time operating environment ofthe process plant, and are generally configured to present, in knownmanners, information or data received from process control modules,devices, and/or other control objects that are also operating within theruntime or real-time operating environment of the process plant. In someknown systems, display views have a graphical element (e.g., a graphicalrepresentation or graphic) that is associated with a physical or logicalelement included in the operating environment and that iscommunicatively tied to the physical or logical element to receive dataabout the physical or logical element and updates thereto over time,e.g., during runtime operations of the process plant. The graphicalelement may be configured or defined to dynamically change itsappearance on the display screen based on the received data toillustrate, for example, that a tank is half full, to illustrate theflow measured by a flow sensor, etc. As such, as the data provided bythe physical or logical element in the operating environment of theprocess plant changes over time (e.g., is repeatedly or continuallyupdated over time), the appearance of the corresponding graphicalelement is changed on the display screen accordingly.

In some currently-known operator display configuration architectures forindustrial process control systems, each operator workstationindependently manages its own alarms and access to real-time controldata that is generated by process control modules, devices, and/or othercontrol objects. As such, to customize an operator HMI or display viewfor a particular operator workstation, custom graphical properties,values, and/or configurations of various display view elements (e.g.,graphical and other types of elements) that are to be presented on theruntime display view are defined and associated with the display viewwithin a graphical configuration environment, and the definition orconfiguration of the display view is downloaded from the configurationenvironment into the particular operator workstation of the operatingenvironment for execution. Often, custom scripts are programmed into theconfiguration of the display view so that desired behavior and/orappearances of the various display view elements and/or of the displayview itself are executed at the particular operator workstation.Additionally, if the display view appearance or behavior is desired tobe modified or changed for the particular operator workstation,typically the modifications must be applied to the configuration of thedisplay view in the graphical configuration environment, and then themodified configuration must be downloaded from the configurationenvironment for execution at the particular operator workstation. Inmost cases, this requires that the particular operator workstation ceaseits execution of the current display view in order for the modifieddisplay view configuration to be received and executed at the particularoperator workstation.

In other currently-known operator display configuration architecturesfor industrial process control systems, a common configuration for adisplay view is downloaded from the graphical configuration environmentto multiple operator workstations. To effect particular, customizedappearances and/or behaviors of the display view at a particularoperator workstation, though, during runtime the particular operatorworkstation at which the display view is executing must query orotherwise communicate with the graphical configuration environment toobtain necessary information (such as particular configurations ofvarious graphics, runtime values, and/or other information) to effect orimplement the desired customized appearances and/or behaviors of thedisplay view at the particular operator workstation. As modern-dayprocess plants may include hundreds of operator workstations, themessages that are sent and received between operator workstations andback-end display configuration servers add a significant load to processplant communication networks.

Recently, the Center for Operator Performance (COP), a researchconsortium that addresses human capabilities and limitations inindustrial process control operating environments through research,collaboration, and human factors engineering, and the InternationalSociety of Automation (ISA) have been working to help advance industrialprocess control system Human Machine Interfaces (HMIs) and their ease ofuse, for example, by suggesting improvements and guidelines in HumanCentered Design (HCD). For example, the American National StandardANSI/ISA-101.01.-2015 entitled “Human Machine Interfaces for ProcessAutomation Systems” and approved on Jul. 9, 2015 addresses “thephilosophy, design, implementation, operation, and maintenance of HumanMachine Interfaces (HMIs) for process automated systems includingmultiple work processes throughout the HMI lifecycle . . . [t]hestandard defines the terminology and models to develop and HMI in thework processes recommended to effectively maintain the HMI throughoutthe lifecycle” (ANSI/ISA-101.01-2015, page 9).

SUMMARY

As discussed above, generally speaking, operator Human-MachineInterfaces (HMIs) or display views are used by operators during theruntime operations of the process to view and respond to conditionswithin the process and/or process plant. The effectiveness of processplant operators in operating the process safely and effectively, as wellas in detecting and responding to various process and process plantconditions depends, in a large part, on how well the operator HMIs ordisplay views are designed (e.g., by the configuration engineers orother operator HMI designers). However, recent changes in how industrialprocess plants are operated greatly affect the design of operator HMIs.For example, continued competitive pressure in process controlindustries has led to a significant expansion in the span of a portionof the process for which a single operator is responsible. With thisexpansion, the number of process graphics that the single operator mustmonitor and utilize to safely and efficiently run the process hasincreased several-fold. In fact, in a present day process plant,operators are commonly expected to navigate through hundreds of processgraphics. In addition, trends such as increasing intelligence in plantequipment and more automated and advanced control logic in processcontrol industries have led to a significant increase in the level ofcomplexity of the portion of the process for which a single operator isresponsible.

Further, the work space that is utilized by a single operator mayinclude one to many consoles or monitors in a variety of sizes. Thenumber and sizes of monitors and/or consoles are often determined by thesize and complexity of the portion of the process being monitored by theoperator. Additionally, when an operator's work space includes multiplemonitors, each monitor typically has a custom layout defined for eachmonitor's respective monitor size, location, and portion of the processbeing monitored. For example, the custom layout defines what displaysshould open on which monitor, how displays on different monitorsinteract with each other, etc.

Still further, as no two process plants or operating sections within aplant are alike, in practice each process plant often develops anddesigns its own, custom operational philosophies, graphics, and/orgraphical standards for effective operation. Accordingly, the operatorHMI graphics, strategies, design, layout, navigation, and/or operatoractions may be, to a significant extent, custom built for differentoperating sections and/or different process plants.

These and other factors have made the configuration engineer's job ofdesigning operating HMIs ever more difficult. Often, configurationengineers must create complex, programmatic extensions to operator HMIsto customize or hone various capabilities for particular operatingsections and/or plants. Commonly, configuration engineers must utilizeprogramming languages like Visual Basic or C, and/or other customprograms to create the desired operator HMI. This results in a complexoperator HMI suite that is difficult and time consuming to develop,extend, troubleshoot, and maintain.

At least some of the aspects of the novel graphical displayconfiguration and usage systems and methods disclosed herein addressthese and other modern-day HMI challenges, as well as provide a platformfor industrial process control HMI design and use that is not onlyflexible, easy to use, and easy to maintain, but also helps engineersdesign and implement their process plant's operating environment HMI inlight of current process automation HMI standards and best practices.

In an embodiment, a graphical display configuration and usage system foran industrial process plant (also interchangeably referred to herein asa “graphical configuration system” or a “graphical configuration andusage system”) includes a graphical display configuration applicationthat executes in a configuration environment of the process plant. Thegraphical display configuration application includes a user interfacevia which various operator HMIs or display views are able to be created,defined, designed, and/or published, e.g., by a configuration engineer.A configured or defined display view, when downloaded into and executingin the operating or operations environment of the process plant,provides an operator or other user with real-time (e.g., continually orrepeatedly updated) operating states and statuses of various componentsand operations associated with the process. As such, a display viewtypically includes respective links between one or more display viewelements presented on the display view and one or more control modules,devices, or control objects that are executing to control the processwithin the operating environment of the process plant so that, upondownload and execution of a published configuration of the display viewat a user interface device that is communicatively connected to anoperating environment of the process plant (e.g., at an operatorworkstation, remote computing device, mobile device, etc.), respectiveindications of one or more values or other data that are provided orgenerated by the one or more control modules, devices, or controlobjects while executing in the operating environment of the processplant are presented and repeatedly updated on the executing displayview, e.g., via the linked display view elements.

The graphical display configuration system also includes a centralizedconfiguration database or library that stores published configurationsor definitions of display views as well as published configurations ordefinitions of display view elements that are available to be includedon or otherwise associated with various display views. In someembodiments, the centralized configuration database or library alsostores draft configurations or definitions of display views and/ordisplay view elements. Examples of display view elements includegraphics, properties, links to control modules, devices, objects, and/orother control components or elements that are disposed in the operatingenvironment, global variables, parameters, areas or subsections of thedisplay view, and/or other elements and/or portions of the display view.In an example, for a particular display view, the centralizedconfiguration database or library stores a published configuration ofthe particular display view and optionally one or more working or draftconfigurations of the particular display view. The publishedconfiguration of the particular display view may include one or morepublished configurations of various display view elements that are toappear on the executing display view, and the published display viewconfiguration is available for download and execution in the operatingenvironment of the process plant. On the other hand, the one or moreworking or draft configurations of the particular display view areexcluded from download and execution in the operating environment of theprocess plant. That is, working or draft configurations of display viewsand of display view elements are prevented from being downloaded andexecuted in the operating environment of the process, and instead aremaintained within the configuration environment, e.g., for edit,modification, testing, etc.

The published configuration or definition of the particular display viewincludes one or more user controls via which an operator or user of theuser interface device included in the operating environment of theprocess plant is able to change an appearance of the executing displayview at his or her respective user interface device on-line duringruntime operations. For example, the operator, via the one or more usercontrols at his or her respective user interface device, is able tochange the appearance of a graphic, a property of a graphic, an area ofthe display view, a property and/or content of the area of a displayview, a location of a graphic on the display view, particular datasourced by a control module, device, or control object that is to bedisplayed, and/or other appearances of elements, areas, or portions ofthe executing display view. Significantly, the graphics configurationsystem allows the change to the appearance of the executing display viewin the operating environment to be implemented at the operatorworkstation solely based upon contents of the published configuration ordefinition of the display view that is executing at the operatorworkstation. That is, the downloaded, published configuration of thedisplay view allows the operator to customize or change the appearanceof the display view at the operator's workstation while the display viewis executing on-line in the operating environment without having to haltthe execution of the display view, without having to download adifferent configuration of the display view, and without the displayview and/or the operator workstation needing to obtain data from theconfiguration environment to implement the desired change.

Accordingly, when the published configuration or definition of theparticular display view is downloaded to multiple user interface devicesor operator workstations included in the operating environment of theprocess plant, each operator or user is able to customize or change thelocal appearance of the instance of the display view that is executingat his or her workstation independently of other operators or users, andwithout his or her workstation communicating with the graphical displayconfiguration application and configuration library. Some of theoperator-initiated changes or customizations may be implemented in amutually exclusive manner at a particular workstation, for example, afill property of a graphic is selected by the operator to be either grayor blue, but not both gray and blue. Some of the changes may not bemutually exclusive at a particular workstation (e.g., the changes may becumulative or independently applied), such as when the operator dragsand drops graphics that are indicative of particular control elementsthat the operator desires to actively (and easily) monitor into anActive Monitor or Watch window included on the display view.

In an embodiment, a method for configuring graphical displays forruntime or real-time operations of a process plant includes receiving,via a user interface of a graphical display configuration applicationexecuting in a configuration environment of a process plant, adefinition of a display view. The display view typically includesvarious graphical elements that are representative of respective controlmodules, devices, and/or other control components (also referred tointerchangeably herein as control elements or control objects) thatexecute or operate in the operating environment of the process plant,e.g., to control at least a portion of the process, such as controllers,process controllers, field devices, I/O cards or devices, other types ofhardware devices, units, areas, etc. Accordingly, the definition of thedisplay view defines a link between a graphical element presented on thedisplay view and a control component or object so that, upon downloadand execution of the display view in the operating environment of theprocess plant, one or more values or other data that are generated bythe control component or control object while executing in the operatingenvironment of the process plant to control the process are presentedand repeatedly updated on the executing display view via the linkedgraphical element. The graphical element may be, for example, a graphicthat is indicative or representative of a particular control module,device, or other control component or object.

Additionally, typically the definition of the display view includesrespective definitions of various other graphical portions, elements, orcomponents (and/or combinations thereof) that are included on and/orotherwise associated with the display view, such as graphics, text,properties of graphics and/or text (e.g., color, contrast, animations,etc.), global variables, parameters, different areas of the displayview, respective properties and/or content of different areas of thedisplay view, different locations of various graphics, text, and/orareas on the display view, and/or particular operating data that issourced by control modules, devices, and/or other control objects andtheir linkages to respective graphics or other elements on the displayview, to name a few. Other such graphical portions, elements, and/orcomponents which may be included on and/or otherwise associated with thedisplay view may include, for example, display view hierarchies, displayview layouts, timers, embedded links, animation conversion functions,data references, project or plant standards, display themes, contentlanguages and/or indications thereof, application languages and/orindications thereof, tab areas on display views, tooltips and/or othercontextual displays, trends and other representations of historizedparameters, watch or active monitoring areas, and/or other features,aspects, and/or functionalities provided by the present graphicalconfiguration and usage systems and methods described herein. Stillother graphical portions, elements, and/or components which may beincluded on and/or otherwise associated with the display view mayinclude custom and/or default Graphic Element Module (GEM)configurations (e.g., such as described in co-owned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/692,450 filed on Aug. 31, 2017 and entitled“Derived and Linked Definitions with Override,” and/or may includeoperator display switching preview configurations and/or objectsassociated therewith (e.g., such as described in co-owned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15,243,176 filed on Aug. 22, 2016 and entitled“Operator Display Switching Preview.”

At any rate, for ease of reading herein, such graphical portions,elements, or components (and combinations thereof) that are included onor otherwise associated with a display view are generally referred tointerchangeably herein as “graphical display view elements,” “graphicalelements,” “graphical components,” “display view elements,” “displayelements,” or “display view components.” Typically, each display viewelement may be defined by or configured using its own separate object,where the object may be created, modified, stored, and published via thegraphical configuration and usage systems and methods described herein.

Some of the definitions of display view elements may define mutuallyexclusive options, for example, the color theme of the display view inits entirety may be selectively changed by the operator between variousdefined color themes, or the language that is used on the display viewis switched by the operator between Arabic and French. Some of thedefinitions of display view elements may not be mutually exclusive, suchas when the operator drags and drops graphics that are indicative ofparticular control elements that the operator desires to actively (andeasily) monitor into an Active Monitor or Watch window included on thedisplay view.

With particular regard to a display view configuration or definitionthat defines a plurality of properties that are selectable in theoperating environment in a mutually exclusive manner for application toa particular portion of the executing display view, the method includesreceiving, via the user interface of the graphical display configurationapplication, an indication of a selection of a subset of a plurality ofuser interface devices (e.g., operator workstations) that are includedin the operating environment of the process plant and to whichrespective instances of the display view definition are to be downloadedfor execution. The selected subset of user interface devices may includemore than one user interface device, if desired. The method furtherincludes downloading the definition of the display view (which may be apublished definition) into each user interface device included in theselected subset of user interface devices for execution in the operatingenvironment of the process plant, thereby enabling the particularportion of the executing display view to be selectively changed, in themutually exclusive manner between the plurality of properties,independently at each user interface device. Accordingly, each userinterface device implements its respective change solely based upon thecontents of the downloaded definition of the display view executing atthe user interface device, and without communicating with any otherdevice included in the configuration environment of the process plant toeffect or implement the change. Thus, a first operator may select“flashing” for a particular property of a particular graphic included onthe display view at his or her workstation, while another operator mayselect “no flashing” for the particular property of the particulargraphic included on the display view at his or her workstation. Bothselections are fully supported and solely implemented by the respectivedownloaded definitions of the display view executing at the workstationswithout having to halt execution of the display view at theworkstations, without having to download a different configuration ofthe display view to the workstations, and without the display viewsand/or the operator workstations obtaining data or other informationfrom the configuration environment to implement the desired change.

It is noted that while the disclosure herein refers to graphical displayviews and graphical display view elements, this is for illustrative andease of discussion purposes only, and is not meant to be limiting.Indeed, any one or more of the aspects discussed herein with respect tographical display views may easily be applied to Graphical ElementModule (GEM) classes, for example. Similarly, any one or more of theaspects discussed herein with respect to graphical display view elementsmay be easily applied to GEMs, for example. As is commonly known, GEMsare linked graphical configurable shapes that are reusable and that maybe combined with other shapes and/or behaviors. Typically, GEMs provideone or more visual representations or views of a configurable shape, andthe definition or configuration of a GEM is stored separately fromdefinitions or configurations of usage/instances of that GEM in specificdisplay views and other objects (e.g., to enable sharing the GEMdefinition/configuration). As such, the graphical configuration systemsand methods described herein and any one or more aspects thereof may beeasily applied to GEMs and GEM classes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a distributed process control networklocated within a process plant including the graphics configuration andusage systems and methods of the present disclosure;

FIG. 1B is a block diagram of an example user interface deviceschematically illustrated in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an example implementation of a graphicaldisplay configuration and usage system in a configuration environmentand in an operating environment of a process plant, such as the processplant of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of an example implementation of the graphicalconfiguration library included in the graphical configuration and usageof system of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2C depicts a block diagram of an example snapshot in time of anin-progress configuring of a display view using the graphicalconfiguration and usage system of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is an example view of a graphical display configurationapplication for defining graphics and an example view of an operatorapplication for presenting the graphics according to the definitionsfrom the graphical display configuration application;

FIG. 3B is an example detailed view of a graphical display configurationapplication for defining graphics;

FIG. 4 is an example view of an operator application for presenting awatch area of alarms, process parameters, etc., which may be configuredby the operator; and

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example method for presenting a watcharea of alarms, process parameters, etc., which may be configured by theoperator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of an exemplary process control network orsystem 2 operating in a process control system or process plant 10 withand/or in which embodiments of the novel graphical display configurationand usage system described herein may be utilized. The process controlnetwork or system 2 may include a network backbone 5 providingconnectivity directly or indirectly between a variety of other devices.The devices coupled to the network backbone 5 include, in variousembodiments, combinations of one or more access points 7 a, one or moregateways 7 b to other process plants (e.g., via an intranet or corporatewide area network), one or more gateways 7 c to external systems (e.g.,to the Internet), one or more user interface (UI) devices 8 which may bestationary (e.g., a traditional operator workstation) or mobilecomputing devices (e.g., a mobile device smart-phone), one or moreservers 12 (e.g., which may be implemented as a bank of servers, as acloud computing system, or another suitable configuration), controllers11, input/output (I/O) cards 26 and 28, wired field devices 15-22,wireless gateways 35, and wireless communication networks 70. Thecommunication networks 70 may include wireless devices 40-58, whichinclude wireless field devices 40-46, wireless adapters 52 a and 52 b,access points 55 a and 55 b, and a router 58. The wireless adapters 52 aand 52 b may be connected to non-wireless field devices 48 and 50,respectively. The controller 11 may include a processor 30, a memory 32,and one or more control routines 38. Though FIG. 1A depicts only asingle one of some of the devices that are directly and/orcommunicatively connected to the network backbone 5, it will beunderstood that each of the devices could have multiple instances on thenetwork backbone 5 and, in fact, that the process plant 10 may includemultiple network backbones 5.

The UI devices 8 may be communicatively connected to the controller 11and the wireless gateway 35 via the network backbone 5. The controller11 may be communicatively connected to wired field devices 15-22 viainput/output (I/O) cards 26 and 28 and may be communicatively connectedto wireless field devices 40-46 via the network backbone 5 and awireless gateway 35. The controller 11 may operate to implement a batchprocess or a continuous process using at least some of the field devices15-22 and 40-50. The controller 11, which may be, by way of example, theDeltaV™ controller sold by Emerson, is communicatively connected to theprocess control network backbone 5. The controller 11 may be alsocommunicatively connected to the field devices 15-22 and 40-50 using anydesired hardware and software associated with, for example, standard4-20 mA devices, I/O cards 26, 28, and/or any smart communicationprotocol such as the FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol, the HART® protocol,the Wireless HART® protocol, etc. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG.1A, the controller 11, the field devices 15-22, 48, 50 and the I/O cards26, 28 are wired devices, and the field devices 40-46 are wireless fielddevices.

In operation of the UI device 8, the UI device 8 may, in someembodiments, execute a user interface (“UI”), allowing the UI device 8to accept input via an input interface and provide output at a display.The UI device 8 may receive data (e.g., process related data such asprocess parameters, log data, sensor data, and/or any other data thatmay be captured and stored), from the server 12. In other embodiments,the UI may be executed, in whole or in part, at the server 12, where theserver 12 may transmit display data to the UI device 8. The UI device 8may receive UI data (which may include display data and processparameter data) via the backbone 5 from other nodes in the processcontrol network or system 2, such as the controller 11, the wirelessgateway 35, and/or the server 12. Based on the UI data received at theUI device 8, the UI device 8 provides output (i.e., visualrepresentations or graphics, some of which may be updated duringrun-time) representing aspects of the process associated with theprocess control network or system 2, allowing the user to monitor theprocess. The user may also affect control of the process by providinginput at the UI device 8. To illustrate, the UI device 8 may providegraphics representing, for example, a tank filling process. In such ascenario, the user may read a tank level measurement and decide that thetank needs to be filled. The user may interact with an inlet valvegraphic displayed at the UI device 8 and input a command causing theinlet valve to open.

In certain embodiments, the UI device 8 may implement any type ofclient, such as a thin client, web client, or thick client. For example,the UI device 8 may depend on other nodes, computers, UI devices, orservers for the bulk of the processing necessary for operation of the UIdevice 8, as might be the case if the UI device is limited in memory,battery power, etc. (e.g., in a wearable device). In such an example,the UI device 8 may communicate with the server 12 or with another UIdevice, where the server 12 or other UI device may communicate with oneor more other nodes (e.g., servers) on the process control network orsystem 2 and may determine the display data and/or process data totransmit to the UI device 8. Furthermore, the UI device 8 may pass anydata related to received user input to the server 12 so that the server12 may process the data related to user input and operate accordingly.In other words, the UI device 8 may do little more than render graphicsand act as a portal to one or more nodes or servers that store the dataand execute the routines necessary for operation of the UI device 8. Athin client UI device offers the advantage of minimal hardwarerequirements for the UI device 8.

In other embodiments, the UI device 8 may be a web client. In such anembodiment, a user of the UI device 8 may interact with the processcontrol system via a browser at the UI device 8. The browser enables theuser to access data and resources at another node or server 12 (such asthe server 12) via the backbone 5. For example, the browser may receiveUI data, such as display data or process parameter data, from the server12, allowing the browser to depict graphics for controlling and/ormonitoring some or all of the process. The browser may also receive userinput (such as a mouse click on a graphic). The user input may cause thebrowser to retrieve or access an information resource stored on theserver 12. For example, the mouse click may cause the browser toretrieve (from the server 12) and display information pertaining to theclicked graphic.

In yet other embodiments, the bulk of the processing for the UI device 8may take place at the UI device 8. For example, the UI device 8 mayexecute the previously discussed UI. The UI device 8 may also store,access, and analyze data locally.

In operation, a user may interact with the UI device 8 to monitor orcontrol one or more devices in the process control network or system 2,such as any of the field devices 15-22 or the devices 40-50. The usermay interact with the UI device 8, for example, to modify or change aparameter associated with a control routine stored in the controller 11.The processor 30 of the controller 11 implements or oversees one or moreprocess control routines (stored in a memory 32), which may includecontrol loops. The processor 30 may communicate with the field devices15-22 and 40-50 and with other nodes that are communicatively connectedto the backbone 5. It should be noted that any control routines ormodules (including quality prediction and fault detection modules orfunction blocks) described herein may have parts thereof implemented orexecuted by different controllers or other devices if so desired.Likewise, the control routines or modules described herein which are tobe implemented within the process control system may take any form,including software, firmware, hardware, etc. Control routines may beimplemented in any desired software format, such as using objectoriented programming, ladder logic, sequential function charts, functionblock diagrams, or using any other software programming language ordesign paradigm. In particular, the control routines may be defined andimplemented by a user through the UI device 8. The control routines maybe stored in any desired type of memory, such as random access memory(RAM), or read only memory (ROM) of the controller 11. Likewise, thecontrol routines may be hard-coded into, for example, one or moreEPROMs, EEPROMs, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), orany other hardware or firmware elements of the controller 11. Thus, thecontroller 11 may be configured (by a user using a UI device 8 incertain embodiments) to implement (e.g., receive, store, and/or execute)a control strategy or control routine in any desired manner.

In some embodiments of the UI device 8, a user may interact with the UIdevice 8 to define and implement a control strategy at the controller 11using what are commonly referred to as function blocks, wherein eachfunction block is an object or other part (e.g., a subroutine) of anoverall control routine and operates in conjunction with other functionblocks (via communications called links) to implement process controlloops within the process control system. Control based function blockstypically perform one of an input function, such as that associated witha transmitter, a sensor or other process parameter measurement device; acontrol function, such as that associated with a control routine thatperforms PID, fuzzy logic, etc. control; or an output function whichcontrols the operation of some device, such as a valve, to perform somephysical function within the process control system. Of course, hybridand other types of function blocks exist. The function blocks may havegraphical representations that are provided at the UI device 8, allowinga user to easily modify the types of function blocks, the connectionsbetween the function blocks, and the inputs/outputs associated with eachof function blocks implemented in the process control system. Functionblocks may be downloaded to, stored in, and executed by the controller11, which is typically the case when these function blocks are used for,or are associated with standard 4-20 mA devices and some types of smartfield devices such as HART devices, or may be stored in and implementedby the field devices themselves, which can be the case with Fieldbusdevices. The controller 11 may include one or more control routines 38that may implement one or more control loops. Each control loop istypically referred to as a control module, and may be performed byexecuting one or more of the function blocks.

Referring still to FIG. 1A, the wireless field devices 40-46 communicatein a wireless network 70 using a wireless protocol, such as the WirelessHART protocol. In certain embodiments, the UI device 8 may be capable ofcommunicating with the wireless field devices 40-46 using the wirelessnetwork 70. Such wireless field devices 40-46 may directly communicatewith one or more other nodes of the process control network or system 2that are also configured to communicate wirelessly (using the wirelessprotocol, for example). To communicate with one or more other nodes thatare not configured to communicate wirelessly, the wireless field devices40-46 may utilize a wireless gateway 35 connected to the backbone 5. Ofcourse, the field devices 15-22 and 40-46 could conform to any otherdesired standard(s) or protocols, such as any wired or wirelessprotocols, including any standards or protocols developed in the future.

The wireless gateway 35 may provide access to various wireless devicesor nodes 40-46, 52-58 of a wireless communication network 70. Inparticular, the wireless gateway 35 provides communicative couplingbetween the wireless devices 40-46, 52-58 and other nodes of the processcontrol network or system 2 (including the controller 11 of FIG. 1A).The wireless gateway 35 provides communicative coupling, in some cases,by the routing, buffering, and timing services to lower layers of thewired and wireless protocol stacks (e.g., address conversion, routing,packet segmentation, prioritization, etc.) while tunneling a sharedlayer or layers of the wired and wireless protocol stacks, in an exampleimplementation. In other cases, the wireless gateway 35 may translatecommands between wired and wireless protocols that do not share anyprotocol layers.

Similar to the wired field devices 15-22, the wireless field devices40-46 of the wireless network 70 may perform physical control functionswithin the process plant 10, e.g., opening or closing valves or takemeasurements of process parameters. The wireless field devices 40-46,however, are configured to communicate using the wireless protocol ofthe network 70. As such, the wireless field devices 40-46, the wirelessgateway 35, and other wireless nodes 52-58 of the wireless network 70are producers and consumers of wireless communication packets.

In some scenarios, the wireless network 70 may include non-wirelessdevices 48, 50, which may be wired devices. For example, a field device48 of FIG. 1A may be a legacy 4-20 mA device and a field device 50 maybe a traditional wired HART device. To communicate within the network70, the field devices 48 and 50 may be connected to the wirelesscommunication network 70 via a respective wireless adaptor (WA) 52 a, 52b. Additionally, the wireless adaptors 52 a, 52 b may support othercommunication protocols such as Foundation® Fieldbus, PROFIBUS,DeviceNet, etc. Furthermore, the wireless network 70 may include one ormore network access points 55 a, 55 b, which may be separate physicaldevices in wired communication with the wireless gateway 35 or may beprovided with the wireless gateway 35 as an integral device. Thewireless network 70 may also include one or more routers 58 to forwardpackets from one wireless device to another wireless device within thewireless communication network 70. The wireless devices 40-46 and 52-58may communicate with each other and with the wireless gateway 35 overwireless links 60 of the wireless communication network 70.

In certain embodiments, the process control network or system 2 mayinclude other nodes connected to the network backbone 5 that communicateusing other wireless protocols. For example, the process control networkor system 2 may include one or more wireless access points 7 a thatutilize other wireless protocols, such as WiFi or other IEEE 802.11compliant wireless local area network protocols, mobile communicationprotocols such as WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for MicrowaveAccess), LTE (Long Term Evolution) or other ITU-R (InternationalTelecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector) compatible protocols,short-wavelength radio communications such as near field communications(NFC) and Bluetooth, and/or other wireless communication protocols.Typically, such wireless access points 7 a allow handheld or otherportable computing devices to communicate over a respective wirelessnetwork that is different from the wireless network 70 and that supportsa different wireless protocol than the wireless network 70. In someembodiments, the UI device 8 communicates over the process controlnetwork or system 2 using a wireless access point 7 a. In somescenarios, in addition to portable computing devices, one or moreprocess control devices (e.g., controller 11, field devices 15-22, orwireless devices 35, 40-46, 52-58) may also communicate using thewireless network supported by the access points 7 a.

Additionally or alternatively, the process control network or system 2may include one or more gateways 7 b, 7 c to systems that are externalto the immediate process control system. In such embodiments, the UIdevice 8 may be used to control, monitor, or otherwise communicate withsaid external systems. Typically, such systems are customers and/orsuppliers of information generated or operated on by the process controlsystem. For example, a plant gateway node 7 b may communicativelyconnect the immediate process plant 10 (having its own respectiveprocess control data network backbone 5) with another process planthaving its own respective network backbone. In an embodiment, a singlenetwork backbone 5 may service multiple process plants or processcontrol environments.

In another example, the plant gateway node 7 b may communicativelyconnect the immediate process plant to a legacy or prior art processplant that does not include a process control network or system 2 orbackbone 5. In this example, the plant gateway node 7 b may convert ortranslate messages between a protocol utilized by the process controlbig data backbone 5 of the plant 10 and a different protocol utilized bythe legacy system (e.g., Ethernet, Profibus, Fieldbus, DeviceNet, etc.).In such an example, the UI device 8 may be used to control, monitor, orotherwise communicate with systems or networks in said legacy or priorart process plant.

The process control network or system 2 may include one or more externalsystem gateway nodes 7 c to communicatively connect the process controlnetwork or system 2 with the network of an external public or privatesystem, such as a laboratory system (e.g., Laboratory InformationManagement System or LIMS), a personnel rounds database, a materialshandling system, a maintenance management system, a product inventorycontrol system, a production scheduling system, a weather data system, ashipping and handling system, a packaging system, the Internet, anotherprovider's process control system, and/or other external systems. Theexternal system gateway nodes 7 c may, for example, facilitatecommunication between the process control system and personnel outsideof the process plant (e.g., personnel at home).

Although FIG. 1A illustrates a single controller 11 with a finite numberof field devices 15-22, 40-46, and 48-50 communicatively connectedthereto, this is only an illustrative and a non-limiting embodiment. Anynumber of controllers 11 may be included in the process control networkor system 2, and any of the controllers 11 may communicate with anynumber of wired or wireless field devices 15-22, 40-50 to control aprocess in the plant 10. Furthermore, the process plant 10 may alsoinclude any number of wireless gateways 35, routers 58, access points55, wireless process control communication networks 70, access points 7a, and/or gateways 7 b, 7 c.

FIG. 1B illustrates a block diagram of an example UI device 8 which maybe utilized in conjunction with embodiments of the novel graphicaldisplay configuration and usage system described herein. The UI device 8may be a desktop computer such as a traditional operator workstation, acontrol room display, or a mobile computing device such as a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a mobile device smart-phone, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a wearable computing device, or any othersuitable client computing device. The UI device 8 may execute agraphical display configuration application utilized by a configurationengineer in the configuration environment to create, generate, and/oredit various display view definitions or configurations as well ascreate, generate, and/or edit various display view element definitionsor configurations. The UI device 8 may also execute an operatorapplication utilized by an operator to monitor, observe, and react tovarious statuses and conditions of the process within the operatingenvironment. The UI device 8 may include a display 72. Further, the UIdevice 8 includes one or more processors or CPUs 75, a memory 78, arandom-access memory (RAM) 80, an input/output (I/O) circuit 82, and acommunication unit 85 to transmit and receive data via a local areanetwork, wide area network, and/or any other suitable network, which maybe wired and/or wireless. The UI device 8 may communicate with thecontrollers 11, the server 12, and/or any other suitable computingdevice.

The memory 78 may include an operating system 88, applications runningon the operating system 88 such as the graphical display configurationapplication and operator application, and a control unit 90 forcontrolling the display 72 and communicating with the controllers 11 tocontrol on-line operation of the process plant. In some embodiments, theserver 12 may transmit a graphical representation of a portion of theprocess plant to the UI device 8 and in turn, the control unit 90 maycause the graphical representation of the portion of the process plantto be presented on the display 72. Additionally, the control unit 90 mayobtain user input from the I/O circuit 82, such as user input from theoperator or configuration engineer (also referred to herein as a user)and translate the user input into a request to present a graphicaldisplay view in a particular language, a request to include graphicsthat are indicative of particular control elements in an Active Monitoror Watch window included on the display view, a request to display anadjustment to a process parameter included in one of the processsections, etc.

In some embodiments, the control unit 90 may communicate the translateduser input to the server 12 which may generate and transmit therequested UI to the UI device 8 for display. In other embodiments, thecontrol unit 90 may generate the new UI based on the translated userinput and present the new UI on the display 72 of the UI device 8. Whenthe translated user input is a request to display an adjustment to aprocess parameter included in one of the process sections, the controlunit 90 may adjust the process parameter value on the display 72 inaccordance with the user input from the operator and may provideinstructions to the controllers 11 to adjust the process parameter inthe process plant. In other embodiments, the control unit 90 maycommunicate the translated user input to the server 12 which maygenerate and transmit the adjusted process parameter value to the UIdevice 8 for display, and provide instructions to the controllers 11 toadjust the process parameter in the process plant.

FIG. 2A depicts a high-level block diagram illustrating one possiblemanner of implementing embodiments and/or aspects of the graphicaldisplay configuration and usage system 100 described herein within aconfiguration environment 102 and an operating or operations environment105 of a process plant or process control system, e.g., of the processplant 10 of FIG. 1A. The configuration environment 102 of the processcontrol system is interchangeably referred to herein as the “off-line”environment 102 or the “back-end” environment 102 of the process controlsystem, and the operating environment 105 of the process control systemis interchangeably referred to herein as the “operations,” “on-line,”“front-end,” or “field” environment 105 of the process control system.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the configuration environment 102 includes agraphical display configuration application 110 that includes a userinterface via which a configuration engineer or user may create,generate, and/or edit various display view definitions or configurations112 as well as create, generate, and/or edit various display viewelement definitions or configurations 115. For example, the graphicaldisplay configuration application 110 may execute on an instance of theuser device 8 of FIGS. 1A and/or 1B. Each display view configuration 112and each display view element configuration 115 may be implemented as arespective object, for example. Generally speaking, a display viewdefinition 112 may be configured to include (among other components) oneor more display element definitions 115. Typically, a display viewdefinition 112 is configured to include at least one display element(e.g., a graphical element) that is linked to a particular controlmodule, device, or other type of control object so that in the operatingenvironment 105, runtime data associated with the particular controlmodule, device, or control object may be represented via the linkeddisplay element(s) on the executing display view, e.g., in a continuallyor repeatedly updated manner. The particular control module, device, orcontrol object typically is defined in a control configuration database118 (e.g., its configuration is stored in the control configurationdatabase 118), and may be represented within the display view definition112 by a designated control tag or other suitable indicator, forexample. As shown in FIG. 2A, the display view-related definitions orconfigurations 112, 115 are stored in a centralized graphicalconfiguration database or library 120 so that the graphicaldisplay-related configurations 112, 115 are available for download andexecution in the operating environment 105 to thereby allow operators orusers to monitor, observe, and react to various statuses and conditionsof the process within the operating environment 105. It is noted thatalthough the graphical configuration database 120 and the controlconfiguration database 118 are illustrated in FIG. 2A as being separatedatabases within the configuration environment 102 of the processcontrol system 10, in some implementations, at least portions or theentireties of the configuration databases 120, 118 may be integrallyimplemented as a unitary database or library.

At any rate, in FIG. 2A, a display view configuration 112 may be definedto specify one or more control objects 118 that are associated with orbound to respective display view elements 115 included on the displayview 112, and then the definitions of the display view elements 115 andthe control objects 118 respectively bound thereto are instantiated andprovided to (e.g., are downloaded into) one or more different operatorworkstations or user interface devices 122 included in the operatingenvironment 105 of the process plant 10. In an example, the userinterface device or workstation 122 may take the form of the userinterface device 8 of FIG. 1B. The instantiated display view 112executing at the user interface device 122 communicates with the controlmodule runtime environment 125, which may be executed in controllers andfield devices associated with the process, to access or otherwise obtaindata or other information from the control module runtime environment125, e.g., as defined by the bound control objects 118 of the displayview 112. The user interface device 122 may communicate with the controlmodule runtime environment 125 using any desired or preconfiguredcommunication networks, such as the data highway 5 and/or the wirelesscommunication networks 70 of FIG. 1A.

In some embodiments, user interface device 122 uses a download scriptparser 128 to parse at least some of the downloaded display viewconfiguration 112 during its execution (e.g., to perform just in timeobject code conversion), although use of the download script parser 128by the user interface device 122 is not necessary or required, e.g.,when a downloaded display view configuration 112 does not include anyscripts.

In some embodiments, the user interface device 122 uses a rule-basedexecution engine 130 to execute process flow algorithms or other rulebased procedures (e.g., as provided by a process flow runtimeenvironment 132) that are indicated by or bound to the display viewelement objects 115 and/or to the display view object 112, such as whenone or more of the display view element objects 115 is a smart processobject. Generally speaking, a smart process object is defined orconfigured to include data storage for storing data pertaining to andreceived from other entities within the process plant 10, as well asinputs and outputs for communicating with other smart process objectsand methods that may be executed on the stored and received data, e.g.,to detect plant or device conditions. In some arrangements, smartprocess objects are communicatively connected together to create aprocess flow module that provides a display view for, and implement aset of rules for a plant entity, such as an area, device, element,module, etc., and the process flow module is executed in the runtime bythe process flow runtime environment 132, e.g., by using the executionengine 130. It is noted that the use of the execution engine 130 by theuser interface device 122 is not necessary or required, e.g., when adownloaded display view configuration 112 does not include any smartprocess objects. It is further noted that other methods of integratingthe display views and display view elements with runtime control objectsin the operating environment 105 other than those discussed herein areadditionally or alternatively possible, and may be utilized by thegraphical display configuration and usage system 100. For ease ofdiscussion, an instantiated display view that executes or is provided ona user interface device 122 of the operating environment 105 isgenerally referred to herein as an operator or operations application135.

FIG. 2B depicts a detailed block diagram of an embodiment of thegraphical configuration library 120 included in the graphical displayconfiguration and usage system 100 of FIG. 2A. As illustrated in FIG.2B, the graphical configuration library 120 stores both display viewdefinitions or configurations 112 as well as display view elementdefinitions or configurations 115. Each definition or configuration 112,115 may have associated therewith a published version and optionally oneor more draft versions (which are also referred to hereininterchangeably as “in-progress” or “working” versions) which are storedin the library 120. As shown in FIG. 2B, View 1 has two correspondingdraft configurations and one corresponding published configurationstored in the graphical configuration database 120. Additionally, thegraphical configuration database 120 is shown as storing one draftconfiguration and two published configurations for View2, one publishedconfiguration and no draft configurations for View3, and m draftconfigurations and one published configuration for ViewN. Generallyspeaking, only published configurations or definitions are allowed orpermitted to be downloaded from the graphical configuration library 120or elsewhere within the configuration environment 102 into the operatingenvironment 105. Draft configurations or definitions may be maintained,stored, and edited solely within the configuration environment 102, insome embodiments. If draft configurations or definitions are storedwithin the configuration environment 102, the drafts are prevented frombeing downloaded into the operating environment 105. When aconfiguration engineer is satisfied with a draft display-relatedconfiguration or definition 112, 115, the engineer may explicitlypublish the display-related configuration or definition 112, 115 (e.g.,change its state to “published”) so that it is available for downloadand execution in the runtime process plant 10. In some embodiments, asingle user control may implement both the publishing and the subsequentdownload of the publication. In other embodiments, a publish usercontrol or command and a download user control or command are differentand distinct user controls provided by the configuration application110.

As such, multiple configuration engineers are able to create, modify,and test graphical configurations and definitions (and in somesituations, simultaneously) without impacting runtime operations of thesubject configurations, e.g., as illustrated by the m draftconfigurations of ViewN and the published configuration of the ViewN.Additionally, different versions of a same display view may be publishedand available for runtime operations, for example, when a same displayview is configured to have different combinations of operatorcustomizations that are downloaded to different areas of the plant,e.g., as illustrated by the two publications of View2. (Of course, thegraphical display configuration system 100 allows configurationengineers to re-name different publications of View2 as separate viewsinstead of different publications of the same view, if so desired.) Insome embodiments, at least some of the published display views andpublished display view elements are available out-of-the-box, that is,at least some published display views and published display viewelements are provided as defaults in the library 120. Such default viewsand elements may be edited or modified by configuration engineers usingthe graphical display configuration application 110, and the modifiedviews or elements may be published as additional or alternativepublished versions of the default objects 112, 115.

A particular display view configuration may be defined, e.g., byconfiguration engineers or users via the graphical display configurationapplication 110, to include (e.g., refer to, point to, or reference) oneor more display view element configurations, among other components.Similarly, in some instances, a particular display view elementconfiguration may be defined to include (e.g., refer to, point to, orreference) one or more other display view elements. Significantly,various display-related configurations or definitions (whether ofdisplay views and/or of display view elements) may respectively define aset of operator-selectable customizations that are made available forthe operator to modify the appearance of the corresponding display viewor display view element during runtime as the operator desires, withouthaving to create and/or download a revised configuration, and withoutthe display view, the display view element, or the user interface deviceon which the display view is executing having to obtain additionalconfiguration data indicative of the modification from another computingdevice (e.g., from a computing device or database included in theconfiguration environment 102, or from a computing device or databaseincluded in the operating environment 102 that locally storesconfiguration data or copies thereof). Additionally, in someembodiments, the particular display view configuration may also includeone or more global variables or scripts in addition to the other displayview elements referenced therein.

To illustrate, FIG. 2C depicts a snap shot of an example display view150 that is being configured by a user on a canvas provided by thegraphical display configuration application 110. At this point duringits configuration, the display view 150 has been defined as includingseveral display view elements 152 a-168 a. In particular, the displayview 150 includes a tabbed display element 152 a including four tabs 152a-1, 152 a-2, 152 a-3, and 152 a-4, and the tab 152 a-1 includes agraphic of a tank 155 a including an input flow connection 158 a and anoutput flow connection 160 a. Additionally, the tank graphic 155 aincludes a fill animation 162 a via which the liquid level in the tankis represented. The presentation of the display view 150 may be at leastpartially influenced by one or more user controls included thereon,e.g., a language user control 165 a and a theme user control 168 a,which are able to be manipulated by an operator for customization at hisor her workstation or user interface 8. Additionally or alternatively,one or more similar user controls 165 a, 168 a may be provided at theworkstation or user interface 8 via the operator application 135executing the display view 150 at the workstation 8 (not shown in FIG.2C).

The configuration of the example display view 150 is captured or definedin a corresponding display view object 172 a which, in FIG. 2C, is adraft, working, or in-progress configuration object 172 a (or otherwisenot published). Similarly, the configuration of each of the display viewelement 152 a-168 a is captured or defined in one or more respectivedisplay view element objects 152 b-170 b (each of which, at the point intime illustrated by FIG. 2C, may or may not be respectively published,either individually, or as a whole with the display view 150). Forexample, the tabs 152 a-1, 152 a-2, 152 a-3, and 152 a-4 are defined bya graphical tab display element 152 a, which itself is defined by aninstance of the tab object 152 b, where each tab object instance hasbeen specifically configured to, for example, display a different textstring on its respective tabs 152 a-1, 152 a-2, 152 a-3, and 152 a-4 andto include other display characteristics and properties thereon (notshown). The tank graphic 155 a is defined by an instance of the tankobject 155 b, and the tank object instance has been specificallyconfigured to be associated with a specific control tag LT123.Additionally, the fill animation 162 a has been defined by an instanceof the fill animation object 162 b which specifies that the fillanimation is a bottom-to-top fill. Further, the color of the fillanimation 162 a is defined by an instance of a fill color object 170 bto be operator-selectable between the colors blue, red, white, andgreen. For example, the fill color may be individually selectable, ormay be selectable by virtue of the operator selecting a particular themewhich defines the fill color.

Moreover, as demonstrated in FIG. 2C, configurations of graphical objectinstances may be defined using other graphical objects and/or objectinstances. For example, the instance of the tab object 152 b thatdefines the tab 152 a-1 is defined to include the instance of the tankgraphic object 155 b that defines the tank graphic 155 a (including,inter alia, the specification therein of the control tag LT123) thereon.Similarly, the instance of the tank graphic object 155 b that definesthe tank graphic 155 a is itself defined to include the instance of thefill animation object 162 b for the fill animation 162 a, where theinstance of the fill animation object 162 b has been particularlyconfigured in this example to be a bottom-to-top fill animation. Still,the instance of the fill animation object 162 b defining the fillanimation 162 a is itself defined to include an instance of the fillcolor object 170 b, which defines therein a choice ofoperator-selectable fill colors (e.g., blue, red, white, and green) andadditionally defines the mutually exclusive selection and applicationthereof.

Generally speaking, a first graphical element object may be defined orconfigured to refer to (e.g., point to, reference, etc.) a secondgraphical element object, where the configuration of the secondgraphical element object defines the appearances and/or behaviors of thefirst graphical element object. In some embodiments, the configurationor the definition of the first graphical element object may additionallyinclude one or more object property values and/or scripts, if desired.The first graphical element object and the second graphical elementobject are independent and separate objects. That is, the firstgraphical element object and the second graphical element object are notincluded in the same object class, are not derived from each other, arenot related by parent/child object relationships, etc. Indeed, thesecond graphical element object may be referenced by another graphicalelement object and appropriately configured to thereby define theappearances and/or behaviors of the another graphical element object.

In some scenarios, the second graphical element object itself mayreference a third graphical element object, where the configuration ofthe third graphical element object defines the appearances and/orbehaviors of the second graphical element object. If desired, theconfiguration of the second graphical element object may additionallyinclude one or more object property values and/or scripts.

At any rate, turning back to FIG. 2C, the instance of the display viewobject 172 a defining the view 150 may be configured to display one ormore user controls 165 a, 168 a thereon. (As noted above, in someembodiments, one or more of the user controls 165 a, 168 a may beprovided by the operator application 135 that executes the configureddisplay view object 172 a at the user interface device 8 within theoperating environment 105, which is not depicted in FIG. 2C.) At anyrate, whether provided by the display view object 172 a and/or by theoperator application 135, each of the user controls 165 a, 168 a may bedefined, at least in part, by its respective object 165 b, 168 b. Inparticular, as illustrated in FIG. 2C, the language user control 165 ais defined by an instance of the multi-language object 165 b which, inthis example, has been configured to enable text to be represented ineither English, Arabic, or French. As such, during runtime, an operatormay manipulate the language user control 165 a to selectively change thelanguage that appears in the display view 150 to/from English, Arabic,or French. Similarly, the themes user control 168 a is defined by aninstance of the themes object 168 b, where the instance of the themes168 b, in this example, has been defined to allow the operator, duringruntime, to selectively change the theme of the display view 150 amongTheme 1, Theme2, and Theme3. As such, during runtime, an operator maymanipulate the themes user control 168 a on the operator application 135to change the theme that appears in the display view 150 among Theme1,Theme2, and Theme3. Each of the languages and themes may be definedelsewhere in the graphical configuration database 120, e.g., in themanners described elsewhere in this disclosure.

Further, the display view 150 may be able to be included in variousother display view elements 115. For example, a particular Layout1(e.g., which may be configured as a particular instance of a layoutobject) may be defined to present the display view 150 in a first area,e.g., by linking the configuration 172 a of the display view 150 to thegraphical object defining the first area of Layout1. Another particularLayout2 (e.g., which may be configured as another particular instance ofthe layout object) may be defined to present the display view 150 in asecond area, e.g., by linking the display view configuration 170 to thegraphical object defining the second area of Layout2. In an additionalor alternative implementation, the instance of the display view object172 a may reference one or several layouts (e.g., which may beconfigured as particular instances of layout objects) that include thedisplay view 150. Each of the layouts that include the display view 150may be particularly configured to be or to not be presented to theoperator when presenting the display view 150 while executing in theruntime environment. In other words, while executing in the runtimeenvironment, the operator application 135 may present the display view150 according to one of the layouts based on the configuration of thedisplay view object 172 a. Additional discussion of layouts that areable to be provided by the graphical display configuration system 100 isprovided elsewhere in this disclosure. Similarly, the display view 150may be linked or otherwise associated with various display hierarchies,and additional discussion of display hierarchies that are provided bythe graphical display configuration system 100 is also providedelsewhere in this disclosure.

Returning to FIG. 2C, when the configuration engineer is satisfied withthe display view object 172 a that defines the content, appearances, andbehaviors of the display view 150 in the runtime environment 105, theconfiguration engineer may publish the display view object asrepresented in FIG. 2C by the reference 172 b.

In an embodiment in which display view elements objects are able to beindividually published, upon publication of the display view object 172b, any display view element objects 152 b-170 b that are not already ina published state may be automatically published, and/or the user may beprompted to manually publish display view element objects that are stillin a draft or in-progress state. That is, in such an embodiment, inorder for a display view object 172 a to be published, any displayelement objects included therein or linked thereto must also be in apublished state.

In another embodiment in which display view element objects are notindividually publishable, upon publication of the display view object172 b, the published configuration 172 b of the display view 150 isstored in the graphical configuration database 120, thereby making thepublished configuration 172 b available for download into the operatingenvironment 105 of the process plant 10, such as is shown in FIG. 2C. Insome embodiments, upon publication of the display view object 172, thepublished configuration 172 b is automatically downloaded into theoperating environment 105.

The published configuration of the display view object 172 b may bedownloaded to one or more user interface devices that are included inthe operating environment 105 for execution, as represented in FIG. 2Cby user interface devices UI-1, UI-2, UI-3. Each of the user interfacedevices UI-1, UI-2, UI-3 may take the form of the user interface device8 or the user interface device 122, for example, and the particular setof user interface devices to which the published display viewconfiguration 172 b is to be downloaded (and executed on) may bespecified by a user, e.g., via the graphical display configurationapplication 110 or via another user interface of the configurationenvironment 120. As such, each downloaded instance of the publisheddisplay view configuration 172 b may execute independently in theruntime environment 105 at its respective host user interface deviceUI-1, UI-2, UI-3.

Importantly, the published display view configuration 172 b, whenexecuting at its host device UI-1, UI-2, UI-3, allows operators or usersto customize the appearance and behaviors of a respective executingdisplay view 150 as desired within the runtime environment 105, andindependently of the runtime customization of other users. As shown inFIG. 2C, at UI-1, the user of UI-1 has changed the color of the fillanimation 162 a of the tank graphic 155 on the display view 150 to beblue, has selected that the text displayed on the display view 150 bepresented in French, and has selected that the display view 150 bepresented using Theme3. At UI-2, the user has changed the color of thefill animation 162 a to be white, has selected the text to be presentedin Arabic, and has selected Theme1. At UI-3, the user has changed thecolor of the fill animation 162 a to be red, has selected the text to bepresented in English, and has selected Theme2. The user selections andcustomizations implemented at user interface devices UI-1, UI-2, andUI-3 are effected solely using the respective published display viewconfigurations 172 b executing respectively at the host devices UI-1,UI-2, and UI-3. That is, to implement the operator-desired changes, noneof UI-1, UI-2, or UI-3 needs to obtain additional configuration datafrom the configuration environment or from any other computing device.Moreover, to implement the operator-desired changes, an updatedconfiguration for the display view 150 is not required to be downloadedand executed. Rather, each operator simply implements desired changes inline with the runtime execution of the display view 150 at his or herrespective user interface device UI-1, UI-2, UI-3, e.g., without needingto stop and re-start the display view 150. For example, if the user ofUI-1 subsequently wishes to change the displayed theme from Theme3 toTheme2, the user may do so by merely making the selection via the ThemeUser Control 168 a executing at UI-1 (which may, as discussed above beprovided by the operator application 135 or by the display view 150),and in response the executing display view 150 will implement thechange, e.g., without having to communicate with any other computingdevice included in the configuration environment 102 and/or with anyother computing device that is able to access configuration data 120 orcopies thereof.

Of course, the example scenario depicted in FIG. 2C is meant to beillustrative but not limiting, and is only one of many possible usagescenarios of the graphical display configuration and usage system 100.Indeed, as is demonstrated within this disclosure, the graphical displayconfiguration and usage system 100 provides a configuration environment102 that is flexible, intuitive, and easy to maintain, whilesimultaneously providing an operating experience that supportsindependent, on-line operator customization of display views and/or ofdisplay elements included thereon. The various features and aspects(either alone, or in combination) of the graphical display configurationand usage system 100 which provide these and other benefits aredescribed in more detail below.

Display Navigational Hierarchy

Turning now to FIG. 3A, examples of types of display view elements thatare provided by the graphical display configuration and usage systemsand methods described herein are a hierarchy display view element and alayout display view element. As mentioned above, to generate graphics ina process control system, the graphical display configurationapplication 110 in the configuration environment 102 includes graphicaluser controls for defining hierarchies and layouts, thereby allowing aconfiguration engineer to define the hierarchy and layout graphically.Each display view may be made up of display view elements which definethe display view. For example, a “Main-Tanks” display view may includeseveral display view elements each representing a different tank. Adisplay view element in one display view may also be the subject ofanother display view at a higher level of detail having its own displayview elements. In this manner, a plant operator may navigate from adisplay view depicting a general overview of the process plant at thelowest level of detail to a display view depicting a single alarm ordevice within the process plant at one of the highest levels of detail.

In some embodiments, a display view depicts a section of a process plantand the display view elements include graphical representations ofprocess plant entities, such as tanks, mixers, valves, pumps, and/or anyother suitable equipment within a process plant. The display viewelements may also include graphical representations of process plantconnection entities that connect one piece of equipment to another, suchas pipes, electrical wires, conveyor belts, etc.

In some embodiments, the configuration engineer may define the alarms,trends, and/or process parameter values within a display view at aparticular level of detail. In other embodiments, the configurationengineer may define the number of alarms, trends, and/or processparameter values within the display view at a particular level ofdetail. The graphical display configuration application 110 or theoperator or operations application 135 executing on the operator userinterface device 122 may then automatically determine which alarms,trends, and/or process parameter values to include on the display viewbased on priority levels for the respective alarms, trends, and/orprocess parameter values. For example, the configuration engineer mayindicate that five process parameter values will be presented atparticular locations within the display view. Each of the processparameter values corresponding to the display view may be rankedaccording to priority level and the top five ranking process parametervalues may be presented in the display view. The priority levels may bedetermined by the configuration engineer, the operator, or may beautomatically determined based on a set of rules, such as whether aparticular process parameter value triggers an alarm.

To create a hierarchy of display views for navigating from a displayview depicting a general overview of the process plant to display viewsdepicting sections of the process plant at higher levels of detail, thegraphical display configuration application 110 includes graphical usercontrols for defining relationships or links between display views. Thegraphical display configuration application 110 may present a userinterface or a portion thereof for creating the hierarchy. The hierarchyUI may include indications of each of the display views defined in theconfiguration environment. The configuration engineer may then drag anddrop display views (or may use any other suitable graphical usercontrol) into a hierarchy pane to define the relationships or linksbetween the display views. For example, by dragging and dropping anindication of a “Tank 1” display view (e.g., the name “Tank 1,” an icon,etc.) onto an indication of a “Main-Tanks” display view, the graphicaldisplay configuration application 110 may determine that Tank 1 is asubview at a higher level of detail than the “Main-Tanks” display view.In another example, by dragging and dropping an indication of a“Tank-Feed” display view above or below the indication of the“Main-Tanks” display view within the hierarchy pane, the graphicaldisplay configuration application 110 may determine that the “Tank-Feed”and “Main-Tanks” display views are at the same level of detail withinthe hierarchy.

Display view hierarchies may also be created for trend display viewsrepresenting historized process parameter values. For example, a processparameter such a flow rate through a valve may depend on one or severalinput or output process parameters, such as an inlet pressure at thevalve and an outlet pressure at the valve. A Level 1 trend display viewmay depict flow rates through the valve over time while a Level 2 trenddisplay subview of the Level 1 trend display view may depict inlet andoutlet pressures at the valve over time. The configuration engineer maycreate the trend display view hierarchy in the configuration environment102, and an operator may maneuver between resulting trend display viewsand subviews (e.g., via navigation buttons) within the operatingenvironment 105 at increasing or decreasing levels of detail.

In some embodiments, a display view hierarchy may resemble a treestructure where a display view at the lowest level of detail (e.g.,Level 1) is the root node of the tree structure. Display views at thesecond lowest level of detail (e.g., Level 2) may be children nodes withrespect to the root node and may each have their own children nodes atthe third lowest level of detail (e.g., Level 3) which may begrandchildren nodes with respect to the root node. The configurationengineer may create several display view hierarchies which may eachcorrespond to different areas within a process plant or differentprocess plants. In this manner, each operator may view the display viewhierarchy representing the area for which she is responsible.

In addition to defining display view hierarchies, the graphical displayconfiguration application 110 includes graphical user controls fordefining a layout. As used herein, a “layout” may indicate the manner inwhich to divide a display screen area of an operator workstation topresent several display views on a display screen or a plurality ofdisplay screens for the operator workstation. For example, an operatorworkstation may include multiple monitors or display screens and thelayout may cause the operator workstation to present a different displayview on each of the display screens, so that the operator may watchseveral display views at a time. In another example, an operatorworkstation may include a single monitor or display screen and thelayout may cause the operator workstation to divide the display screeninto several regions (e.g., frames, sub-areas, or portions) and presenta different display view on each region of the display screen. Thegraphical display configuration application 110 may include graphicaluser controls for selecting the number of display screens and displayregions within each display screen for a layout. For example, theconfiguration engineer may generate a first layout having two displayscreens, where each display screen is divided into two display regions.Then the configuration engineer may define a display view type for eachof the divided display regions, such as watch area, alarm list,historized parameters, a faceplate, hierarchy level (e.g., Level 1,Level 2, Level 3), etc.

Furthermore, the layout may include relationships or links between thedisplay regions within the layout. For example, a first display regionwithin the layout may present hierarchy Level 1 type display views and asecond display region within the layout may present hierarchy Level 2type display views. The second display region may be configured topresent hierarchy Level 2 display views when the operator navigates fromhierarchy Level 1 in the first display region. The display view for thesecond display region depends on the activity of the operator withrespect to the first display region and the first display regioncontinues to present hierarchy Level 1 type display views. In anotherexample, display regions within the layout depicting alarm list orhistorized parameter display views may depend on display regions withinthe layout depicting control modules, so that the alarm list orhistorized parameter display views include alarms or parameters beingdisplayed within the control modules.

FIG. 3A illustrates, an example side-by-side view 300 of a graphicaldisplay configuration application UI 302 (which may, for example, be aninstance of the graphical display configuration application 110) and anoperator application UI 304 (which may, for example, be an instance ofthe operator application 135) depicting the display view elements duringruntime as defined by the graphical display configuration application UI302. More specifically, the graphical display configuration applicationUI 302 includes a hierarchy pane 310 indicating the hierarchy of a setof display views. For example, the “Tanks-Ovw” display view may be atLevel 1 of the display view hierarchy and the “Tank-Feed” and“Main-Tanks” display views may be at Level 2. The “FeedHt X” and“FeedMixr” display views may be subviews of the “Tank-Feed” display viewand the “Tank1,” “Tank2,” and “Surge” display views may be subviews ofthe “Main-Tanks” display view at Level 3. Additionally, the “T2SOP”display view may be a subview of the “Tank2” display view at Level 4. Asmentioned above, a configuration engineer may define the display viewhierarchy by dragging and dropping indications of the display views intoa hierarchy pane 310 presented by the graphical display configurationapplication 110 or by using any other suitable graphical user controls.Indications of new display views may also be defined in the display viewhierarchy before the corresponding display views are created. Theconfiguration engineer may define where the new display view is locatedwithin the display view hierarchy and then create the new display view.

In addition to depicting the hierarchy pane 310, the graphical displayconfiguration application UI 302 depicts a layout 312 which divides adisplay into four display screens and four display regions 314 a-d (alsoreferred to interchangeably herein as “display sub-areas” or “displayportions”), and each display region 314 a-d has a corresponding displayview type. For example, the upper left corner display region 314 a isdefined to present hierarchy Level 1 display views. The lower left andlower right corner display regions 314 b-c are defined to presenthierarchy Level 2 and Level 3 display views and the upper right cornerdisplay region 314 d is defined to present alarm list display views. Thelayout 312 also defines relationships or links between the displayregions. For example, the lower left corner display region 314 bautomatically presents hierarchy Level 2 display views in response to anoperator navigating from a hierarchy Level 1 display view to a hierarchyLevel 2 display view in the upper left corner display region 314 a. Inanother example, the upper right corner display region 314 d mayautomatically display alarm lists of alarms included in one or more ofthe display views in the other display regions 314 a-c.

The operator application UI 304 includes the layout 312 defined by thegraphical display configuration application 110 which divides a displayof an operator workstation into four display screens and four displayregions 318 a-d. The upper left corner display region 318 a presentshierarchy Level 1 display views. The lower left and lower right cornerdisplay regions 318 b-c present hierarchy Level 2 and Level 3 displayviews and the upper right corner display region 318 d presents alarmlist display views. The operator application UI 304 may present displayviews according to the hierarchy, layout, and/or other display viewelements defined by the graphical display configuration application 110.

The graphical display configuration application UI 302 also includes anadministration section 316 (which may, for example, relate to theadministration of the operations application/environment 304) forassigning hierarchies, layouts, and/or themes to a particular operatorworkstation or set of operator workstations. In this manner, operatorworkstations for operators who monitor one section of the process plantmay present hierarchies related to that section and may be restrictedfrom accessing hierarchies related to other sections of the processplant. In some embodiments, a configuration engineer may assign allhierarchies and layouts to each operator workstation via theadministration section 316 and the operators may select the layout andhierarchy to present on their respective operator workstations.

FIG. 3B illustrates a home tab 350 of the graphical displayconfiguration application 110 for generating display views that are tobe executed on an operator workstation. The home tab 350 includes a newdisplay button 352 for creating a display view, a new layout button 354for creating a layout, and a new display hierarchy button 356 forcreating a hierarchy of display views. The home tab 350 also includes aconfiguration canvas 366 for configuring display view elements within adisplay view. The display view elements may be viewed in a configuremode upon selection of a configure button (not shown) and/or a previewmode upon selection of a preview button 364. In an alternate embodiment,the draft or working configuration of the display view elements may bepresented (e.g., by default, or continuously presented) on the canvasprovided by the configuration application 110, and only a preview button364 may be displayed (e.g., as is illustrated by FIG. 3B), an activationof which causes a preview of the display view to be displayed in anotherarea or window of the user interface provided by the configurationapplication 110. The preview mode or the separate display of the previewpresents a preview of the display view as it would appear duringruntime, so that a configuration engineer may see how the display viewand display view elements will look to the operator. For example, thedisplay view elements may be presented with themes, colors, etc.selected in the configuration mode. The configuration engineer maytoggle graphical user controls, such as navigation bars, tab bars, etc.on the display view in the preview mode to see how the display viewchanges in response to user interactions.

To create a display view, the home tab 350 includes graphical usercontrols for selecting display view elements, such as a basic displayelements button 360 which includes shapes such as rectangles, squares,circles, etc., arrows, connectors, text boxes, charts, or any othersuitable basic display elements. A display view element selection paneor palette 370 may also be included for selecting display view elementssuch as faceplate elements, tab elements, bar graph elements, dataelements, datalink elements, write elements, buttons, sliders, alarmelements, alarm detail elements, function block elements, navigation barelements, GEM elements (e.g., such as described in co-owned U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/692,450 filed on Aug. 31, 2017 and entitled“Derived and Linked Definitions with Override,” the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein), or any other suitabledisplay view elements. The configuration engineer may select displayview elements by dragging and dropping the display view elements intothe configuration canvas 366 or by using any other suitable graphicaluser controls. For example, in FIG. 3B the configuration engineer mayselect the new display button 352 to create a display view for Display 1(ref. no. 368) and may drag and drop a rectangle 374 from the basicdisplay elements button 360 into the configuration canvas 366.

When the rectangle 374 is selected, the properties of the rectangle 374are presented in an editing pane 380. The editing pane 380 may indicateseveral properties of the rectangle, such as the rectangle name(Rectangle 1), fill color (white), fill percentage (100%), line color(black), line thickness (1 pt.), line style (solid), etc. Each of theproperties may be adjusted in the editing pane 380 via graphical usercontrols such as drop-down menus or free-form text fields. For example,the line thickness property may include a drop-down menu for selectingone of several line thickness values, such as 0.5 pt., 1 pt., 1.5 pt.,etc. The fill color property may include a color palette for selectingone of several colors or a free-form text field for entering RGB colorvalues. In some embodiments, the properties may also be adjusted viagraphical user controls at the rectangle 374, such as via a pop-up menuin response to right clicking or double clicking on the rectangle 374.The properties included in the editing pane 380 are merely a few exampleproperties for the rectangle 374. Additional or alternative adjustableproperties may also be presented.

Furthermore, relationships or links between display view elements may beestablished by for example, connecting display view elements via linesor other connectors. Relationships or links may also be established byreferencing other display view elements in the properties of a displayview element. For example, a first display view element may represent atank in the process plant. A second display view element may represent aprocess parameter value for the tank such as a fill percentage. In somescenarios, the configuration engineer may reference the first displayview element in the properties of the second display view element sothat the first and second display view elements are associated andincluded together in one or several display views. In some embodiments,each of the linked display view elements associated with a process plantentity or process control element may reference a control tag thatrefers to control modules, nodes, devices (e.g., field devices), and/orsignals that are received and/or transmitted by devices, controlmodules, or nodes corresponding to the process plant entity.

In any event, the home tab 350 also includes a publish button 358 topublish a graphic (a display view, layout, or display view hierarchy) tothe graphical configuration database 120. The published graphics maythen be provided to a set of operator workstations and presented to thecorresponding operators during runtime.

Operator Watch Area

In currently known process control systems, operators typicallyprioritize a particular set of process parameters which may be includedacross several display views. While an operator may open a chart orfaceplate to view one of the process parameters, the operator does nothave a way to view each of these process parameters at once and thechart or faceplate may obscure other display view elements. Instead, theoperator may at most view different subsets of the process parametersupon navigating to different display views.

To allow an operator to select a particular set of process parameters toview simultaneously without obscuring other display view elements and/orwhile navigating across several display views, the graphical displayconfiguration and usage systems and methods described herein and morespecifically, the graphical display configuration application 110 mayinclude a watch area display view. The watch area display view may be adisplay view type within a display region (e.g., a sub-area or portion)of a layout. As described above with reference to FIG. 3A, the graphicaldisplay configuration application 110 within the configurationenvironment 102 includes graphical user controls for defining a layouthaving a display view type for each of one or several divided displayregions. Accordingly, the configuration engineer may define a displayregion within the layout for presenting a watch area display view. Thewatch area display view may include historized parameter values for aset of process parameters selected by the operator. The set of processparameters may be included in several different display views and may beselected for viewing by the operator via graphical user controls. Forexample, the operator may select process parameters by selecting adisplay view element within a display view that references the processparameters and dragging and dropping the display view element into thewatch area display view. The operator application 135 may then identifyeach of the process parameters referenced by the display view elementand automatically populate historized parameter values for each of theprocess parameters in the watch area display view.

During configuration, the graphical display configuration application110 may include graphical user controls for defining a threshold ormaximum number of process parameters to include in the watch areadisplay view. For example, the graphical display configurationapplication 110 may define the watch area display view to include amaximum number of five process parameters to include in the watch areadisplay view. Then during runtime, the operator may at most select fiveprocess parameters to present in the watch area display view at onetime. After five process parameters are presented in the watch areadisplay view, one of the five process parameters must be removed beforeadding an additional process parameter to the watch area display view.In other scenarios, the graphical display configuration application 110may not define a threshold or maximum number of process parameters toinclude in the watch area display view. Accordingly, the operatorapplication 135 may adjust the size of each of the process parameterspresented in the watch area display view, so that the each of theprocess parameters can be viewed within the display region correspondingto the watch area display view. In yet other embodiments, the graphicaldisplay configuration application 110 may include graphical usercontrols for including a scroll bar in the watch area display view.Then, the operator application 135 may present a subset of the processparameters in a viewing area of the watch area display view, and theoperator may scroll to view additional process parameters in the watcharea display view.

Also during configuration, the graphical display configurationapplication 110 may include graphical user controls for selectingdefault process parameters to present in the watch area display view. Inthis manner, the watch area display view may not present zero processparameters when the operator initially launches the operator application135. For example, the configuration engineer may select the defaultprocess parameters which may be presented during runtime via theoperator application 135. The operator may then remove the defaultprocess parameters and replace them with process parameters selected bythe operator. In other instances, the operator may select processparameters and add them to the watch area display view in addition tothe default process parameters.

In any event, the definitions for the watch area display view aredownloaded into a user interface device 8 executing the operatorapplication 135 in the operating environment 105, such as the displayregion in which to include the watch area display view, the threshold ormaximum number of process parameters to include in the watch areadisplay view, whether to include a scroll bar in the watch area displayview, default process parameters to present in the watch area displayview, etc.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example view 400 of an operator application forpresenting a watch area display view. The example view 400 includes alayout having four display regions 410, 420, 430, and 440 on fourdisplay screens which may correspond to four monitors at an operatorworkstation. A first display region 410 may have a hierarchy Level 1-4display view type which presents display views of sections of theprocess plant at different hierarchy levels. In some embodiments, thefirst display region 410 includes a navigation bar for navigating withina display view hierarchy. A second display region 420 may have a watcharea display view type which presents a configurable watch area ofalarms, process parameter values, etc.

The configurable watch area within the second display region 420 mayinclude a set of process parameters 422, 424 and correspondinghistorized parameter values or alarms selected by the operator. In someembodiments, several properties of each process parameter or alarm maybe included in the watch area display view, such as a name of theprocess parameter or alarm, a description of the process parameter oralarm, indications of alarms corresponding to the process parameter, thecurrent process parameter value, a trend or chart of historizedparameter values for a threshold time period, the current status of thealarm, or any suitable combination of these. In this manner, theoperator may view real-time parameter values for a particular set ofprocess parameters or alarms while she is monitoring other sections ofthe process plant via the display regions 410, 430, 440 presented by theoperator application.

A process parameter or alarm may be added to the watch area display viewvia the graphical user control 426 based on a selection by a user. Insome embodiments, the graphical user control 426 instructs the operatorto select an item by dragging the item to the graphical user control 426to display corresponding process parameters or alarms in the watch areadisplay view. For example, the first display region 410 includes aprocess section display view having a pump display view element 412. Theoperator may click and drag the pump display view element 412 to thegraphical user control 426 within the watch area display view to presentprocess parameters referenced by the pump display view element 412 inthe watch area display view. For example, a pump speed parameter may bepresented in the watch area display view. In other embodiments, theoperator may click and drag a particular process parameter presentedwithin a display region 410, 430, 440 of the layout to present theparticular process parameter in the watch area display view. Forexample, the operator may click and drag the tank fill percentageparameter from the trend display view as shown in FIG. 4 into the watcharea display view.

In some embodiments, a menu associated with the process control displayelement may include an option such as ‘Add to Watch Area.’ In responseto a user selecting ‘Add to Watch Area,’ the process control displayelement may be displayed in the watch area display view. In embodimentsin which there are multiple watch areas, each watch area may beenumerated in a sub-menu associated with the process control displayelement (e.g., ‘Add to Watch Area 1,’ ‘Add to Watch Area 2,’ etc.) Insome instances, each watch area may be highlighted in response tohovering over its corresponding sub-menu.

In any event, the operator may navigate to several display views withinthe first display region 410 for example to view various sections of theprocess plant (e.g., via a graphical user control such as a navigationbar). The operator application 135 may then present the requesteddisplay view in the first display region 410 having different processcontrol display elements from the initial display view. The processparameters and alarms included in the watch area display view maycontinue to be presented as the operator navigates across display viewswithin the other display regions 410, 430, 440. In this manner, theoperator may monitor process parameters and alarms she identifies asimportant independently from the display views she is currently viewing.The watch area display view also includes a graphical user control 428for removing a process parameter from the watch area display view and agraphical user control 429 for removing all of the process parametersfrom the watch area display view.

In some embodiments, the process parameters and alarms included in thewatch area display view may be stored locally at the operatorworkstation. In this manner, the operator may view the same processparameters and alarms in the watch area display view upon logging in tothe operator workstation.

Additionally, an operator may interact with an alarm or processparameter within the watch area display view. For example, the operatormay add a comment or message to a particular alarm or process parameterand the comment or message may be provided to a server 12 that storesthe comment or message in association with the corresponding alarm orprocess parameter. More specifically, the watch area display view mayinclude graphical user controls for adding comments or messages to aparticular alarm or process parameter. In response to a selection of thegraphical user control, the operator application 135 may present acomment/text box for the operator to insert a comment or message. Thenwhen another operator presents the alarm or process parameter in a watcharea display view or in another display view, the corresponding commentor message may be provided to the other operator. In another example,the operator may write to a process parameter such as a setpoint withinthe watch area display view via graphical user controls included in thewatch area display view. More specifically, the watch area display viewmay include graphical user controls for adjusting setpointscorresponding to each of the process parameters presented in the watcharea display view. In response to adjusting a setpoint of a processparameter in the watch area display view, a controller may adjust theoperation of a device in the operating environment of the process plant.For example, a controller may open a valve to increase the fillpercentage of a tank coupled to the valve. In yet another example, theoperator may open a corresponding faceplate or process section displayview that presents the process parameter or alarm via a graphical usercontrol. More specifically, the operator may double click on a processparameter and the first display region 410 may automatically navigate tothe process section display view that presents the process parameter.

While the watch area display view in FIG. 4 is illustrated within adisplay region 420 of a layout, a watch area display view may also be adisplay view element within another display view. For example, the watcharea display view may be included within the process section displayview in the first display region 410. Additionally, the layout mayinclude multiple watch area display views in different display regionsand/or any suitable combination of watch area display views and watcharea display view elements included within other display views in thelayout.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of an example method 500 forpresenting a watch area display view in a process plant. The method 500may be performed by the graphical display configuration application 110,the operator application 135, or any suitable combination of theseoperating on one or more UI devices 8.

At block 502, indications of process control display elements (e.g.,valves, tanks, pumps, etc.) are presented in a first display regionincluded in a layout of a display view, with each process controldisplay element corresponding to one or more process parameter. Forexample, the first display region may include a graphical representationof a control module, function block, or section of the process plant,and the process control display elements may be included within thegraphical representation.

At block 504, a second display region is presented in the layout of thedisplay view simultaneously with the first display region. The seconddisplay region may have a watch area display view type. In someexamples, the second display region may be a sub-region contained withinthe first display region. The second display region is displayed suchthat it does not occlude any process control display elements (e.g., theprocess control display elements presented in the first display region).For example, in various embodiments, any number of display regions, suchas, e.g., a third display region, fourth display region, etc., may bepresented and displayed in the layout of the display view without theirrespective process control display elements being obscured by the seconddisplay region.

At block 506, an indication is received, indicating that a user hasselected one of the process control display elements in the firstdisplay region for display in the second display region. For example,the indication may be an indication that a user has selected a processcontrol display element in the first display region (e.g., by clickingon it), and dragged and dropped the selected process control elementfrom the first display region to the second display region. As anotherexample, the indication may be an indication that the user has selecteda process control display element in the first display region (e.g., byclicking on it), and dragged and dropped the selected process controlelement from the first display region to a third display region. Forinstance, the third display region may be a sub-region of the firstdisplay region.

As still another example, each process control display element may beassociated with a context menu. The context menu may include an optionfor the user to select ‘Add to Watch Area.’ Accordingly, the indicationmay be an indication that the user has selected ‘Add to Watch Area’ inthe context menu associated with the process display element. Inembodiments in which there are multiple watch areas, each watch area maybe enumerated in a sub-menu associated with the process control displayelement (e.g., ‘Add to Watch Area 1,’ ‘Add to Watch Area 2,’ etc.)Accordingly, the indication may be an indication that the user hasselected ‘Add to Watch Area 1’ or ‘Add to Watch Area 2’ in the contextmenu associated with the process display element. In some instances, themethod may include highlighting a particular watch area in response tohovering over its corresponding sub-menu (e.g., highlighting Watch Area1 in response to a hover event associated with Watch Area 1).

In some instances, an indication may be received indicating that a userhas selected one or more additional process control display elements inthe first display region for display in the second display region.Furthermore, in some instances, an indication may be received indicatingthat a user has selected one or more additional process control displayelements from other display regions (e.g., a fourth display region, afifth display region, etc.) for display in the second display region.

At block 508, one or more process parameters corresponding to theselected process control display element are presented in the seconddisplay region. In instances where multiple process control displayelements are selected (e.g., multiple process control display elementsfrom one display region, multiple process control display elements frommultiple display regions, etc.), process parameters corresponding toeach selected process control display element may be presented in thesecond display region. In various embodiments, the process parameterspresented in the second display region may include one or more of, e.g.,an indication of an alarm associated with a process parameter; a name ofa process parameter, a name of an alarm associated with a processparameter, a description of a process parameter, a description of analarm associated with a process parameter, a current value of a processparameter, an engineering unit associated with a process parameter, atrend or chart of historized values associated with a process parameter,and/or a current status of an alarm associated with a process parameter.

In some embodiments, the method 500 may additionally include receivingan indication that the user has selected one of the process parameterspresented in the second display region for removal from the seconddisplay region. For example, the indication may be an indication that auser has selected a process control display element in the seconddisplay region (e.g., by clicking on it), and dragged and dropped theselected process control element from the second display region to anarea outside of the second display region. In another example, theoperator application 135 may include a graphical user control, such asan ‘x’ or delete button corresponding to one of the process parameterspresented in the second display region for requesting removal of thecorresponding process parameter from the second display region. Thegraphical user control may be adjacent to the corresponding processparameter, and the indication may be that the user selected thegraphical user control corresponding to one of the process parameterspresented in the second display region. Furthermore, the method 500 mayinclude removing the selected process parameter from the second displayregion based on the selection.

Embodiments of the techniques described in the present disclosure mayinclude any number of the following aspects, either alone orcombination:

1. A method for presenting a watch area display view in a process plant,the method comprising: presenting, via a user interface of a computingdevice executing an operator application in an operating environment ofa process plant, indications of process control display elements in afirst display region included in a layout of a display view, each of theprocess control display elements corresponding to one or more processparameters, presenting, via the user interface, simultaneously with thefirst display region, a second display region in the layout of thedisplay view, the second display region not occluding the processcontrol display elements, receiving, via the user interface, anindication that a user has selected, for display in the second displayregion, one of the process control display elements in the first displayregion, and presenting, via the user interface, in the second displayregion, one or more process parameters corresponding to the selectedprocess control display element.

2. The method according to aspect 1, wherein receiving an indicationthat a user has selected, for display in the second display region, oneof the process control display elements in the first display regioncomprises: receiving, via the user interface, an indication that theuser has: (i) selected a process control display element in the firstdisplay region, (ii) performed a drag operation on the selected processcontrol display element, the drag operation having an origin in thefirst display region and a destination in the second display region, and(iii) performed a drop operation on the selected process control displayelement in the second display region.

3. The method according to aspect 1, wherein receiving an indicationthat a user has selected, for display in the second display region, oneof the process control display elements in the first display regioncomprises: presenting, via the user interface, a third display region inthe layout of the display view, and receiving, via the user interface,an indication that the user has: (i) selected a process control displayelement in the first display region, (ii) performed a drag operation onthe selected process control display element, the drag operation havingan origin in the first display region and a destination in the thirddisplay region; and (iii) performed a drop operation on the selectedprocess control display element in the third display region.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, wherein thethird display region is contained within the first display region in thelayout of the display view.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereinreceiving an indication that a user has selected, for display in thesecond display region, one of the process control display elements inthe first display region comprises: presenting, via the user interface,a menu associated with the process control display element, the menuincluding a menu option for displaying the process control displayelement in the second display region, and receiving, via the userinterface, an indication that the user has selected the menu option fordisplaying the process control display element in the second displayregion.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, wherein theselected process control display element is a first process controldisplay element, the method further comprising: receiving, via the userinterface, an indication that a user has selected, for display in thesecond display region, a second process control display element in thefirst display region, and presenting, via the user interface, in thesecond display region, one or more process parameters corresponding tothe selected second process control display element.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, furthercomprising: presenting, via the user interface, simultaneously with thefirst display region and the second display region, indications ofprocess control display elements in a fourth display region included ina layout of a display view, each of the process control display elementscorresponding to one or more process parameters, receiving, via the userinterface, an indication that a user has selected, for display in thesecond display region, a process control display element in the fourthdisplay region, and presenting, via the user interface, in the seconddisplay region, one or more process parameters corresponding to theselected process control display element in the fourth display region.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereinpresenting the one or more process parameters corresponding to theselected process control display element comprises: presenting, via theuser interface, at least one of: (i) an indication of an alarmassociated with a process parameter, (ii) a name of a process parameter,(iii) a name of an alarm associated with a process parameter, (iv) adescription of a process parameter, (v) a description of an alarmassociated with a process parameter, (vi) a current value of a processparameter,

(vii) an engineering unit associated with a process parameter, (viii) atrend or chart of historized values associated with a process parameter,or (ix) a current status of an alarm associated with a processparameter.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, furthercomprising: receiving, via the user interface, an indication that theuser has selected, for removal from the second display region, one ofthe process parameters presented in the second display region, andremoving, from the second display region, the selected processparameter.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereinthe process control display elements are presented in a first displayview in the first display region, and further comprising: receiving arequest to navigate to a second display view within the first displayregion, the second display view including different process controldisplay elements from the first display view; and in response to therequest to navigate to the second display view within the first displayregion: presenting, via the user interface, indications of the differentprocess control display elements in the first display region; andcontinuing to present, via the user interface, process parameterscorresponding to selected process control display elements in the seconddisplay region.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereinthe user is a first user, and further comprising: receiving, via agraphical user control within the second display region from a firstuser, a comment or message associated with one of the one or moreprocess parameters presented in the second display region; presenting,via a user interface of a computing device of a second user, the seconddisplay region in the layout of the display view; receiving, via theuser interface, an indication that the second user has selected, fordisplay in the second display region, a process control display elementcorresponding to the process parameter having an associated comment ormessage; and presenting, via the user interface, in the second displayregion, the process parameter with the associated comment or message.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, furthercomprising: receiving, via a graphical user control within the seconddisplay region from a first user, a selection of one of the one or moreprocess parameters presented in the second display region, andpresenting, via the user interface, a fifth display region containingadditional information associated with the selected process parameterfrom the second display region.

13. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereinthe one or more process parameters corresponding to the selected processcontrol display element are presented in the second display region at afirst time, the method further comprising: storing, at a computingdevice associated with the user, an indication of the selected processcontrol display element, and presenting, at a second time, via the userinterface, in the second display region, based on the stored indicationof the selected process control display element, the one or more processparameters corresponding to the selected process control displayelement.

14. A system for presenting a watch area display view in a processplant, the system comprising: one or more devices disposed in theprocess plant each performing a physical function to control anindustrial process, and a computing device including: one or moreprocessors, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to theone or more processors and storing an operator application thereon, thatwhen executed by the one or more processors, causes the computing deviceto: present, via a user interface of the computing device, indicationsof process control display elements in a first display region includedin a layout of a display view, each of the process control displayelements corresponding to one or more process parameters, present, viathe user interface, simultaneously with the first display region, asecond display region in the layout of the display view, the seconddisplay region not occluding the process control display elements,receive, via the user interface, an indication that a user has selected,for display in the second display region, one of the process controldisplay elements in the first display region, and present, via the userinterface, in the second display region, one or more process parameterscorresponding to the selected process control display element.

15. The system according to aspect 14, wherein the operator applicationcauses the computing device to receive an indication that a user hasselected, for display in the second display region, one of the processcontrol display elements in the first display region by: receiving, viathe user interface, an indication that the user has: (i) selected aprocess control display element in the first display region, (ii)performed a drag operation on the selected process control displayelement, the drag operation having an origin in the first display regionand a destination in the second display region, and (iii) performed adrop operation on the selected process control display element in thesecond display region.

16. The system according to aspect 14 or aspect 15, wherein the seconddisplay region is contained within the first display region in thelayout of the display view.

17. The system according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereinthe operator application causes the computing device to receive anindication that a user has selected, for display in the second displayregion, one of the process control display elements in the first displayregion by: presenting, via the user interface, a menu associated withthe process control display element, the menu including a menu optionfor displaying the process control display element in the second displayregion, and receiving, via the user interface, an indication that theuser has selected the menu option for displaying the process controldisplay element in the second display region.

18. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein theoperator application further causes the computing device to: receive,via a graphical user control within the second display region, a requestto adjust a setpoint of one of the one or more process parameterspresented in the second display region; and adjust operation of one ofthe one or more devices disposed in the process plant according to theadjusted setpoint.

19. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein theselected process control display element is a first process controldisplay element, and wherein the operator application further causes thecomputing device to: receive, via the user interface, an indication thata user has selected, for display in the second display region, a secondprocess control display element in the first display region, andpresent, via the user interface, in the second display region, one ormore process parameters corresponding to the selected second processcontrol display element.

20. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein theoperator application further causes the computing device to: present,via the user interface, simultaneously with the first display region andthe second display region, indications of process control displayelements in a fourth display region included in a layout of a displayview, each of the process control display elements corresponding to oneor more process parameters, receive, via the user interface, anindication that a user has selected, for display in the second displayregion, a process control display element in the fourth display region,and present, via the user interface, in the second display region, oneor more process parameters corresponding to the selected process controldisplay element in the fourth display region.

21. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein theoperator application causes the computing device to present the one ormore process parameters corresponding to the selected process controldisplay element by: presenting, via the user interface, at least one of:(i) an indication of an alarm associated with a process parameter, (ii)a name of a process parameter, (iii) a name of an alarm associated witha process parameter, (iv) a description of a process parameter, (v) adescription of an alarm associated with a process parameter, (vi) acurrent value of a process parameter, (vii) an engineering unitassociated with a process parameter, (viii) a trend or chart ofhistorized values associated with a process parameter, or (ix) a currentstatus of an alarm associated with a process parameter.

22. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein theoperator application further causes the computing device to: receive,via the user interface, an indication that the user has selected, forremoval from the second display region, one of the process parameterspresented in the second display region, and remove, from the seconddisplay region, the selected process parameter.

23. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein theprocess control display elements are presented in a first display viewin the first display region, and the operator application further causesthe computing device to: receive a request to navigate to a seconddisplay view within the first display region, the second display viewincluding different process control display elements from the firstdisplay view; and in response to the request to navigate to the seconddisplay view within the first display region: present, via the userinterface, indications of the different process control display elementsin the first display region; and continue to present, via the userinterface, process parameters corresponding to selected process controldisplay elements in the second display region.

24. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein thesecond display region is contained within the first display region inthe layout of the display view.

25. The system according to any of the preceding aspects, wherein theoperator application further causes the computing device to: receive,via a graphical user control within the second display region from afirst user, a selection of one of the one or more process parameterspresented in the second display region, and present, via the userinterface, a fifth display region containing additional informationassociated with the selected process parameter from the second displayregion.

26. The system according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereinthe one or more process parameters corresponding to the selected processcontrol display element are presented in the second display region at afirst time, wherein the operator application further causes thecomputing device to: store an indication of the selected process controldisplay element, and present, at a second time, via the user interface,in the second display region, based on the stored indication of theselected process control display element, the one or more processparameters corresponding to the selected process control displayelement.

Additionally, the previous aspects of the disclosure are exemplary onlyand not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, actions described asperformed by any device or routine generally refer to actions orprocesses of a processor manipulating or transforming data according tomachine-readable instructions. The machine-readable instructions may bestored on and retrieved from a memory device communicatively coupled tothe processor. That is, methods described herein may be embodied by aset of machine-executable instructions stored on a computer readablemedium (i.e., on a memory device), such as illustrated in FIG. 1B. Theinstructions, when executed by one or more processors of a correspondingdevice (e.g., a server, a user interface device, etc.), cause theprocessors to execute the method. Where instructions, routines, modules,processes, services, programs, and/or applications are referred toherein as stored or saved on a computer readable memory or on a computerreadable medium, the words “stored” and “saved” are intended to excludetransitory signals.

Further, while the terms “operator,” “personnel,” “person,” “user,”“technician,” and like other terms are used to describe persons in theprocess plant environment that may use or interact with the systems,apparatus, and methods described herein, these terms are not intended tobe limiting. Where a particular term is used in the description, theterm is used, in part, because of the traditional activities in whichplant personnel engage, but is not intended to limit the personnel thatcould be engaging in that particular activity.

Additionally, throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement components, operations, or structures described as a singleinstance. Although individual operations of one or more methods areillustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of theindividual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothingrequires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“identifying,” “presenting,” “causing to be presented,” “causing to bedisplayed,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions or processesof a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transforms datarepresented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, biological, oroptical) quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

When implemented in software, any of the applications, services, andengines described herein may be stored in any tangible, non-transitorycomputer readable memory such as on a magnetic disk, a laser disk, solidstate memory device, molecular memory storage device, or other storagemedium, in a RAM or ROM of a computer or processor, etc. Although theexample systems disclosed herein are disclosed as including, among othercomponents, software and/or firmware executed on hardware, it should benoted that such systems are merely illustrative and should not beconsidered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or allof these hardware, software, and firmware components could be embodiedexclusively in hardware, exclusively in software, or in any combinationof hardware and software. Accordingly, persons of ordinary skill in theart will readily appreciate that the examples provided are not the onlyway to implement such systems.

Thus, while the present invention has been described with reference tospecific examples, which are intended to be illustrative only and not tobe limiting of the invention, it will be apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art that changes, additions or deletions may be made to thedisclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘_(——————)’ ishereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intentto limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent isreferred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning,that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader,and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, by implicationor otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element isdefined by reciting the word “means” and a function without the recitalof any structure, it is not intended that the scope of any claim elementbe interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) and/orpre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph.

Moreover, although the foregoing text sets forth a detailed descriptionof numerous different embodiments, it should be understood that thescope of the patent is defined by the words of the claims set forth atthe end of this patent. The detailed description is to be construed asexemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment becausedescribing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if notimpossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, usingeither current technology or technology developed after the filing dateof this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for presenting a watch area display viewin a process plant, the method comprising: presenting, via a userinterface of a computing device executing an operator application in anoperating environment of a process plant, within a first display region,a first display view, the first display view including a first set ofprocess control display elements, wherein each process control displayelement includes a graphical representation of a physical piece ofequipment in the process plant, and wherein each process control displayelement is associated with one or more process parameters related to thephysical piece of equipment; presenting, via the user interface,simultaneously with the first display region, a second display region,the second display region not occluding the first set of process controldisplay elements; receiving, via the user interface, an indication thata user has selected, for display in the second display region, one ofthe process control display elements of the first set of process controldisplay elements in the first display region; presenting, via the userinterface, in the second display region, the one or more processparameters associated with the selected process control display elementof the first set of process control display elements; receiving arequest to navigate to a second display view within the first displayregion; and in response to the request to navigate to the second displayview within the first display region: presenting, via the userinterface, within the first display region, the second display viewinstead of the first display view, the second display view including asecond set of process control display elements, the second set ofprocess control display elements being distinct from the first set ofprocess control display elements; and continuing to present, via theuser interface, in the second display region, the one or more processparameters associated with the selected process control display element,of the first set of process control display elements.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein receiving an indication that a user has selected, fordisplay in the second display region, one of the process control displayelements in the first display region comprises: receiving, via the userinterface, an indication that the user has: (i) selected a processcontrol display element in the first display region; (ii) performed adrag operation on the selected process control display element, the dragoperation having an origin in the first display region and a destinationin the second display region; and (iii) performed a drop operation onthe selected process control display element in the second displayregion.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication that auser has selected, for display in the second display region, one of theprocess control display elements in the first display region comprises:presenting, via the user interface, a third display region in the layoutof the display view; and receiving, via the user interface, anindication that the user has: (i) selected a process control displayelement in the first display region; (ii) performed a drag operation onthe selected process control display element, the drag operation havingan origin in the first display region and a destination in the thirddisplay region; and (iii) performed a drop operation on the selectedprocess control display element in the third display region.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the third display region is contained withinthe first display region in the layout of the display view.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein receiving an indication that a user hasselected, for display in the second display region, one of the processcontrol display elements in the first display region comprises:presenting, via the user interface, a menu associated with the processcontrol display element, the menu including a menu option for displayingthe process control display element in the second display region; andreceiving, via the user interface, an indication that the user hasselected the menu option for displaying the process control displayelement in the second display region.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe selected process control display element is a first process controldisplay element, the method further comprising: receiving, via the userinterface, an indication that a user has selected, for display in thesecond display region, a second process control display element in thefirst display region; and presenting, via the user interface, in thesecond display region, one or more process parameters corresponding tothe selected second process control display element.
 7. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: presenting, via the user interface,simultaneously with the first display region and the second displayregion, indications of process control display elements in a fourthdisplay region included in the layout of the display view, each of theprocess control display elements corresponding to one or more processparameters; receiving, via the user interface, an indication that a userhas selected, for display in the second display region, a processcontrol display element in the fourth display region; and presenting,via the user interface, in the second display region, one or moreprocess parameters corresponding to the selected process control displayelement in the fourth display region.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinpresenting the one or more process parameters corresponding to theselected process control display element comprises: presenting, via theuser interface, at least one of: (i) an indication of an alarmassociated with a process parameter; (ii) a name of a process parameter;(iii) a name of an alarm associated with a process parameter; (iv) adescription of a process parameter; (v) a description of an alarmassociated with a process parameter; (vi) a current value of a processparameter; (vii) an engineering unit associated with a processparameter; (viii) a trend or chart of historized values associated witha process parameter; or (ix) a current status of an alarm associatedwith a process parameter.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, via the user interface, an indication that the user hasselected, for removal from the second display region, one of the processparameters presented in the second display region; and removing, fromthe second display region, the selected process parameter.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the user is a first user, and furthercomprising: receiving, via a graphical user control within the seconddisplay region from a first user, a comment or message associated withone of the one or more process parameters presented in the seconddisplay region; presenting, via a user interface of a computing deviceof a second user, the second display region in the layout of the displayview; receiving, via the user interface, an indication that the seconduser has selected, for display in the second display region, a processcontrol display element corresponding to the process parameter having anassociated comment or message; and presenting, via the user interface,in the second display region, the process parameter with the associatedcomment or message.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, via a graphical user control within the second display regionfrom a first user, a selection of one of the one or more processparameters presented in the second display region; and presenting, viathe user interface, a fifth display region containing additionalinformation associated with the selected process parameter from thesecond display region.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one ormore process parameters corresponding to the selected process controldisplay element are presented in the second display region at a firsttime, the method further comprising: storing, at a computing deviceassociated with the user, an indication of the selected process controldisplay element; and presenting, at a second time, via the userinterface, in the second display region, based on the stored indicationof the selected process control display element, the one or more processparameters corresponding to the selected process control displayelement.
 13. A system for presenting a watch area display view in aprocess plant, the system comprising: one or more physical devicesdisposed in the process plant each performing a physical function tocontrol an industrial process; and a computing device including: one ormore processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupledto the one or more processors and storing an operator applicationthereon, that when executed by the one or more processors, causes thecomputing device to: present, via a user interface of the computingdevice, within a first display region, a first display view, the firstdisplay view including a first set of process control display elements,wherein each process control display element includes a graphicalrepresentation of a physical piece of equipment in the process plant,and wherein each process control display element is associated with oneor more process parameters related to the physical piece of equipment;present, via the user interface, simultaneously with the first displayregion, a second display region, the second display region not occludingthe first set of process control display elements; receive, via the userinterface, an indication that a user has selected, for display in thesecond display region, one of the process control display elements ofthe first set of process control display elements in the first displayregion; present, via the user interface, in the second display region,the one or more process parameters associated with the selected processcontrol display element of the first set of process control displayelements; receive, via the user interface, a request to navigate to asecond display view within the first display region; and in response tothe request to navigate to the second display view within the firstdisplay region: present, via the user interface, within the firstdisplay region, the second display view instead of the first displayview, the second display view including a second set of process controldisplay elements, the second set of process control display elementsbeing distinct from the first set of process control display elements;and continue to present, via the user interface, in the second displayregion, the one or more process parameters associated with the selectedprocess control display element, of the first set of process controldisplay elements.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the operatorapplication causes the computing device to receive an indication that auser has selected, for display in the second display region, one of theprocess control display elements in the first display region by:receiving, via the user interface, an indication that the user has: (i)selected a process control display element in the first display region;(ii) performed a drag operation on the selected process control displayelement, the drag operation having an origin in the first display regionand a destination in the second display region; and (iii) performed adrop operation on the selected process control display element in thesecond display region.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the seconddisplay region is contained within the first display region in thelayout of the display view.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein theoperator application causes the computing device to receive anindication that a user has selected, for display in the second displayregion, one of the process control display elements in the first displayregion by: presenting, via the user interface, a menu associated withthe process control display element, the menu including a menu optionfor displaying the process control display element in the second displayregion; and receiving, via the user interface, an indication that theuser has selected the menu option for displaying the process controldisplay element in the second display region.
 17. The system of claim13, wherein the operator application further causes the computing deviceto: receive, via a graphical user control within the second displayregion, a request to adjust a setpoint of one of the one or more processparameters presented in the second display region; and adjust operationof one of the one or more physical devices disposed in the process plantaccording to the adjusted setpoint.
 18. The system of claim 13, whereinthe selected process control display element is a first process controldisplay element, and wherein the operator application further causes thecomputing device to: receive, via the user interface, an indication thata user has selected, for display in the second display region, a secondprocess control display element in the first display region; andpresent, via the user interface, in the second display region, one ormore process parameters corresponding to the selected second processcontrol display element.
 19. The system of claim 13, wherein theoperator application further causes the computing device to: present,via the user interface, simultaneously with the first display region andthe second display region, indications of process control displayelements in a fourth display region included in a layout of a displayview, each of the process control display elements corresponding to oneor more process parameters; receive, via the user interface, anindication that a user has selected, for display in the second displayregion, a process control display element in the fourth display region;and present, via the user interface, in the second display region, oneor more process parameters corresponding to the selected process controldisplay element in the fourth display region.
 20. The system of claim13, wherein the operator application causes the computing device topresent the one or more process parameters corresponding to the selectedprocess control display element by: presenting, via the user interface,at least one of: (i) an indication of an alarm associated with a processparameter; (ii) a name of a process parameter; (iii) a name of an alarmassociated with a process parameter; (iv) a description of a processparameter; (v) a description of an alarm associated with a processparameter; (vi) a current value of a process parameter; (vii) anengineering unit associated with a process parameter; (viii) a trend orchart of historized values associated with a process parameter; or (ix)a current status of an alarm associated with a process parameter. 21.The system of claim 13, wherein the operator application further causesthe computing device to: receive, via the user interface, an indicationthat the user has selected, for removal from the second display region,one of the process parameters presented in the second display region;and remove, from the second display region, the selected processparameter.
 22. The system of claim 13, wherein the second display regionis contained within the first display region in the layout of thedisplay view.
 23. The system of claim 13, wherein the operatorapplication further causes the computing device to: receive, via agraphical user control within the second display region from a firstuser, a selection of one of the one or more process parameters presentedin the second display region; and present, via the user interface, afifth display region containing additional information associated withthe selected process parameter from the second display region.
 24. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the one or more process parameterscorresponding to the selected process control display element arepresented in the second display region at a first time, wherein theoperator application further causes the computing device to: store anindication of the selected process control display element; and present,at a second time, via the user interface, in the second display region,based on the stored indication of the selected process control displayelement, the one or more process parameters corresponding to theselected process control display element.